NTSB – Page 7 – Railfanning.org

NTSB Issues ‘Urgent Safety Recommendation’ to Washington Metro

July 13, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire

WASHINGTON — The National Transportation Safety Board issued an “urgent safety recommendation” to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) calling for enhanced safety redundancy of its train control system. “A recent accident on the Metrorail’s Red Line between the Fort Totten and Takoma stations has shown that WMATA’s train control system is susceptible to a single point failure because it did not fail safe and stop a train when detection of a preceding train was lost,” they NTSB said in a statement. “The urgent safety recommendation issued today calls for WMATA to evaluate track occupancy data on a real-time

NTSB Releases Annual Report

July 2, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire

WASHINGTON — The National Transportation Safety Board released its annual report to Congress, providing a summary of accident investigations and safety recommendations in the past calendar year. 2008 highlights include: — 19 major accident investigations, including four rail, and 2 pipeline — 129 safety recommendations issued — 67 safety recommendations closed “The calendar year 2008 was an extremely active one as Board staff traveled to accident sites all over the U.S. involving every mode of transportation, lending their expertise and investigative skills,” Acting Chairman Mark V. Rosenker said. “We also completed a number of significant accident investigations, including the August

NTSB Investigating MBTA Trolley Collision

May 9, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire

BOSTON — The National Transportation Safety Board has launched a go-team to investigate the collision of two trolleys on Boston’s MBTA Green Line. At approximately 7:19 pm on Friday, May 8, a trolley struck another trolley from behind near the Government Center station in downtown Boston. Multiple injuries have been reported.

NTSB Hands Down Recommendations

April 10, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire

WASHINGTON — The National Transportation Safety Board has handed down a number of recommendations. The NTSB made the following recommendations to the Federal Railroad Administration: — Establish uniform signal aspects that railroads must use to authorize a train to enter an occupied block, and prohibitthe use of these aspects for any other signal indication. — Study the different signal systems for trains, identify ways to communicate more uniformly the meaning of signal aspectsacross all railroad territories, and require the railroadsto implement as many uniform signal meanings as possible. — Require that emergency exits on new and remanufactured locomotive cabs provide

NTSB: We’re Committed to Consequences of Fatigue

March 6, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire

WASHINGTON — The National Transportation Safety Board, in recognition of National Sleep Awareness Week, reiterated its commitment to eliminating human fatigue in the transportation industry. The Safety Board said it has long been concerned about the effect of human fatigue in transportation and the consequences of fatigue on those who perform critical functions in all modes of transportation. “Fatigue in transportation presents unnecessary risks to the traveling public,” said NTSB Board Member Deborah Hersman. “Fatigue can impair a person behind the wheel or at the helm much like alcohol or other drugs. We must ensure that as much as possible

NTSB to Open Chatsworth Docket

February 27, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire

WASHINGTON — The National Transportation Safety Board will open the docket on the 2008 Metrolink rail accident in Chatsworth, Calif., at the start of a public hearing on March 3. During the two-day hearing, the Safety Board will hear testimony from witnesses called to supplement the facts discovered during the on-scene phase and subsequent follow-up investigation of the accident. On Sept. 12, 2008 at approximately 4:22 p.m., Metrolink commuter train 111 and a Union Pacific freight train collided. As a result of this head-on accident, there were 25 fatalities and numerous injuries. The information being released is factual in nature

Chealander Steps Down From NTSB

February 20, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire

WASHINGTON — National Transportation Safety Board Member Steven R. Chealander has announced his resignation from the Board, effective Feb. 28. Chealander has been a Board Member since Jan. 3, 2007. During his tenure at the Board he was the Board Member on scene for three major transportation accident investigations – a mid-air collision between two news helicopters in Phoenix, Arizona in 2007, the crash of a corporate aircraft in Owatonna, Minnesota in 2008, and last week’s crash of a turboprop airliner near Buffalo, New York. Chealander testified before the Texas State Senate in April 2007 on sobriety checkpoints, and before

NTSB to Discuss Metrolink Crash

February 10, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire

WASHINGTON — The National Transportation Safety Board will hold a public hearing on the 2008 collision in Chatsworth, Calif., involving a Metrolink commuter train and a Union Pacific freight train. The two-day hearing will begin on March 3 at the NTSB’s Board Room and Conference Center, 429 L’Enfant Plaza, S.W., Washington. At 4:22 p.m. on Sept. 12, 2008, Metrolink commuter train 111 and a Union Pacific freight train collided. As a result of this head-on accident, there were 25 fatalities and numerous injuries. On the day of the accident, the Metrolink engineer, who was responsible for the operation of the

NTSB to Discuss ‘Most Wanted’ List

October 24, 2008 Railfanning.org News Wire

WASHINGTON — The National Transportation Safety Board will hold a public Board meeting on Oct. 28 to review its list of Most Wanted safety recommendations directed at federal agencies. The Most Wanted List was developed in 1990 to focus attention on safety improvements the Board believes will have the greatest impact on transportation safety. Some of the issues to be reviewed this year include runway incursions, positive train control, motor carrier operations and operator fatigue.

NTSB: Rail Fatalities Increased in 2007

October 16, 2008 Railfanning.org News Wire

WASHINGTON –Rail fatalities increased slightly in 2007 from 2006, according to preliminary figures released by the National Transportation Safety Board. Overall, transportation fatalities in all modes totaled 43,193 in 2007, compared to 45,085 in 2006. “While statistics show that transportation fatalities have declined this past year,” said Acting Chairman Mark Rosenker, “there is still much work to do to prevent the loss of life on our roads, rails, waterways, and skies.” Rail fatalities increased slightly from 774 to 808. The vast majority of these fatalities were people struck by a rail vehicle, the NTSB said. — Railfanning.org News Wire