NTSB: Railroad Warning Equipment Working, Protocol Followed Before Fatal Midland Train Crash
By: Dylan Brooks
Updated: November 18, 2012
MIDLAND -- As West Texans continue to mourn in the wake of Thursday's fatal train crash -- which killed 4 wounded military veterans and injured 17 other people -- the National Transportation Safety Board continues investigate what exactly caused a Union Pacific train to plow into the flatbed trailer the veterans and their spouses were on.
At a news conference Saturday, N.T.S.B. Investigators said they reviewed dashcam video from both a patrol vehicle and the train -- and they determined that all technology at the railroad crossing where the fatal wreck happened was working.
Officials also say the train operators followed protocol and sounded their horn at the time they were supposed to, and there were no defects with the track or the train itself.
However, even with all of those warnings, it appears the flatbed trailer turned at just the wrong time -- so that it was directly in the path of a collision that has shaken West Texas to its core.
"Based on the time that we've been able to determine from the videos that have been analyzed in Washington D.C., the truck would be crossing as the lights became active," said N.T.S.B. investigator Robert Accetta.
Questions still remain as to why that second float continued on even as the warning lights went on.
N.T.S.B. officials do say that the first trailer carrying veterans -- which the second trailer was following -- cleared the crossing before the warning lights went on.
Officials still need to do a signal distance check in the area -- which will happen on November 19th.
And the N.T.S.B. is still trying to figure out if the correct permits were filed to let Union Pacific know that a parade route would be crossing the tracks in Midland on Thursday afternoon.
The N.T.S.B. will have another news conference at 4 PM on November 18th.
At a news conference Saturday, N.T.S.B. Investigators said they reviewed dashcam video from both a patrol vehicle and the train -- and they determined that all technology at the railroad crossing where the fatal wreck happened was working.
Officials also say the train operators followed protocol and sounded their horn at the time they were supposed to, and there were no defects with the track or the train itself.
However, even with all of those warnings, it appears the flatbed trailer turned at just the wrong time -- so that it was directly in the path of a collision that has shaken West Texas to its core.
"Based on the time that we've been able to determine from the videos that have been analyzed in Washington D.C., the truck would be crossing as the lights became active," said N.T.S.B. investigator Robert Accetta.
Questions still remain as to why that second float continued on even as the warning lights went on.
N.T.S.B. officials do say that the first trailer carrying veterans -- which the second trailer was following -- cleared the crossing before the warning lights went on.
Officials still need to do a signal distance check in the area -- which will happen on November 19th.
And the N.T.S.B. is still trying to figure out if the correct permits were filed to let Union Pacific know that a parade route would be crossing the tracks in Midland on Thursday afternoon.
The N.T.S.B. will have another news conference at 4 PM on November 18th.
