NTSB DISPATCHES ‘GO TEAM’ TO INVESTIGATE METRO NORTH ACCIDENT

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WPCNR NEWS. Special to WPCNR By Peter Katz, Publisher, NTSB REPORTER magazine. February 3, 2015 UPDATED  10:45 P.M. E.S.T.

The National Transportation Safety Board has dispatched a “go team” of investigators to the scene of Tuesday evening’s accident in Valhalla involving a Metro-North commuter train which struck a car.

The Federal agency headquartered in Washington, DC, has investigated previous Metro-North accidents. As of 10 p.m. Tuesday, the casualty toll stood at 6  people killed and at least 15 seriously injured (REVISED TOTALS OF KILLED AND INJURED AS OF WEDNESDAY EVENING)

The Federal agency is charged with investigating transportation accidents, determining the Probable Cause, and making recommendations for ways to prevent repeat occurrences. An NTSB “go team” is composed of investigators having different specialties who always have their suitcases packed and are ready to travel to the scene of an accident on a moment’s notice.

The rush-hour northbound commuter train struck a vehicle at a grade-level crossing. The vehicle caught fire, which spread to the first train car. The fire gutted the first car of the train.  It’s believed that a section of third rail was dislodged from track level and penetrated the traincar. Early reports said the female driver of the car was killed, as were six occupants of the first car of the train.

NTSB investigators typically will interview survivors, including those injured, as well as witnesses.

Local officials are required to preserve evidence pending arrival of NTSB investigators.

The investigators typically will carefully document the accident scene in terms physical layout, distances involved, and the presence of equipment such as signals and crossing gates.

The investigation will seek to answer questions such as whether safety equipment such as crossing gates functioned properly, whether the train was being operated within speed limitations, and what materials on board may have fueled the fire which created thick black acrid smoke which could be seen pouring out of the first car.

Investigators also typically document the emergency response and analyze its effectiveness.  It can take about a year for the NTSB to assemble its final report and adopt the probable cause of an accident.

Just yesterday, February 2, 2015, the NTSB issued a Safety Recommendation to Metro-North calling on the railroad to replace the Grade 5 mounting bolts in the M-8 passenger railcar fleet with stronger bolts. That was a result of information developed during the NTSB’s investigation of a derailment on Metro-North’s New Haven line.

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