A train driver blamed for missing a red signal shortly before two trains collided in Los Angeles last week killing 25 people may have been distracted by text messages right before the crash, officials have said.
US investigators are examining reports that two teenage train enthusiasts received a text message from the engineer driving one of the trains moments before the crash. The Washington-based National Transportation Safety Board plans to obtain the mobile phone records of both the boys and the driver, who died in the crash, to ascertain if he was texting at the time. Robert Sanchez, 46, was manning a Metrolink passenger train heading north through the San Fernando Valley when it crashed head-on into a Union Pacific freight train around 4.30pm. His phone was not recovered.
Nearly 140 people were injured and 25 killed as the force of the impact shoved the commuter train’s engine part-way inside its first passenger carriage, splitting open the car. Rescue crews spent hours working their way through the mass of mangled metal to reach survivors – and retrieve bodies – from the wreckage. More than 40 of the injured were critically hurt in the deadliest US rail tragedy in 15 years.
The day after the crash Metrolink blamed the engineer for failing to stop at a red light. But the company’s spokesman who made the remark later resigned after its board said the conclusion was “premature”. Much of the post-crash probe, which could take a year to complete, has so far focused on whether trackside signals were working and if the driver failed to follow them.
Local television news reported that two 14-year-old boys who befriended Mr Sanchez exchanged text messages with him about a minute before the crash. The boys’ families have been helping investigators. Metrolink said it barred engineers from using mobile phones or other electronic devices when driving trains.
Good grief.
It’s all McCain’s fault. If he hadn’t invented wireless, this poor engineer wouldn’t have been texting when he was.
Nobody wins in this one. 🙁
Clearly this is a case of the liberal elite making conductors babysit trains that the private sector could accomplish from India.
#2, the cell phone carriers win at 5 cents a message and all the publicity about text messaging.
I once thought being serviced by someone using a cell was rude until I discovered how most current servicers are barely capable of performing their basic tasks due to their lack of skills and compound the compulsion to chat my just mentioning “I gave you a twenty” after receiving the change for the ten usually results in a quick hand over of cash without questions that would interrupt their conversation
It amazes me that someone piloting a train would have the time to text. It amazes me that someone allowed those piloting trains to text.
Well, however it works out I guess the 25 dead was worth the lesson learned. I’m sure the populace has a very low requirement to those taking the train drivers position and so many lives in their hands.
#3 that was engineers. You so sexy.
Sounds like an infrastructure problem to me. A train shouldn’t be able to blow through a stop signal without manual intervention. Why isn’t this automated?
Dumb schmuck! Still, train engineers have responsibilities comparable to airline pilots yet are paid much less, have much less training, and are probrably working with abusive shift changes and such. I’ll bet the people at metrolink are really anxious to demonstrate how this dumbass caused the accident and they are in no way legally responible to the victims. Smells bad, blame a dead guy.
He was texting:(In a Mr. Bill voice)
“Oh Noooooooooooooooo”
How is the fact that they hired a dumbass to run the train relive metrolink of responsibility? They hired the dumbass and let him run the train.
#6 “train engineers have responsibilities comparable to airline pilots”
That’s a stretch. No offense to the train conductors of the world, but come on. They run a fixed route and have to stop for red lights occasionally. How hard is that?
Seems like the job doesn’t even compare to a average commute to work. Maybe comparable to operating an elevator.
But this seems to be a case of ‘pilot’ error.
#6 “Still, train engineers have responsibilities comparable to airline pilots yet are paid much less,”
Umm, you’ve never piloted an aircraft, have you?
A commuter train is a pretty simple machine. Take a look at the controls sometime, then look at the cockpit of a 737…
Guess they will have to change all the GO METRO billboards here in LA to GO RETRO – WALK!
#10 – Paddy-O
Flying is easy…
kwl I wll c u on the ovrpss, chk me out doodz ltrz.
As someone in Los Angeles who maybe gets a little more news on this, this claim was made a bit prematurely by the spokesperson, who resigned the next day. Now she may be unresigned due to public outcry.
People that know trains better than I do have suggested that there would have been yellow flagged signals before the red, making it less likely a single distraction could have caused this. But the NTSB is making no conclusions until their thorough investigation is completed.
Considering that most of the really bad train wrecks in the world have been caused by signal failures, it occurs to this reporter that malfunctioning block signals cannot be ruled out.
And no, there is no modern technology or even simple (like the tab system the London Underground uses) are in place in California, and its a real shame.
Chris
Toot toot
riding that train
high on cocaine
casey… hey WTF is that coming
slap blam what a clam
oh look maybe another illegal out of a job
The certification for driving a train are actually quite complex:
http://www.slate.com/id/2200230/
There is something mighty suspicious about this accident… the driver of the train would have had to go through two yellows and a red before the accident. My guess that something happened, like a heart attack happened and left the train running uncontrolled.
# 7 JAFE said,
“Sounds like an infrastructure problem to me. A train shouldn’t be able to blow through a stop signal without manual intervention. Why isn’t this automated?”
A very simple reason… Money!
Even with all of these deaths and injuries, it may be cheaper to pay off the lawsuits than to equip the entire system with safety devices.
http://tinyurl.com/6amcq5
# 2 Thinker said
“Nobody wins in this one. :(”
Not True!
This accident will make a number of lawyers very very happy!
Some years ago we had a very bad crash, of a interaction between commuter and freight trains, in the Chase MD area. And it was from the freight train driver smoking weed. Apparently the drug tests weren’t being done back then. Afterward they were, and new safety features were added. Like Automatic Train Control. But mainly to trains running the Northeast routes. Not so much in California! The lobbyists for these lines killed their wide adoption of ATC.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chase,_Maryland_rail_wreck