On Nov. 1, 1918, 107 years ago today, a speeding Brooklyn Rapid Transit train derailed on a sharp curve beneath Willink Plaza in Flatbush, killing roughly 100 people.
The wreck remains the deadliest in New York City Subway history and one of the deadliest in U.S. history, possibly behind a July 9, 1918, Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway wreck of two passenger trains in Nashville, Tennessee. Casualty numbers vary, making it challenging to definitely identify the deadliest wreck.
The wreck occurred at 6:42 p.m. on the BMT Brighton Line — today’s BMT Franklin Avenue Line — after a train traveling at least 30 mph took the Malbone Street tunnel curve far too fast; the speed limit was 6 mph. Service was strained by a Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers strike, and the BRT assigned crew dispatcher Antonio Edward Luciano, inexperienced on the line, to operate.
Investigators later cited the serpentine track layout and the weight and construction of the wooden cars as contributing factors. Two cars were so badly damaged that they were scrapped.
Luciano and BRT officials were indicted for manslaughter, but the cases ended in acquittals or dropped charges. The BRT, already in financial trouble, entered bankruptcy and, in 1923, reorganized as the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation.
Systemwide changes followed, including phasing out wooden rolling stock and adding train-protection devices to reduce overspeed risks. The tunnel where the crash occurred, which opened only weeks before the mishap, remained in daily passenger use for four decades.
The three motor cars involved — lead car 726, fourth car 725, and final car 1064 — were repaired and returned to service. Trailer cars Nos. 100 and 80 were severely damaged and scrapped.
While the number of people killed ranges from 93 to 102, a report issued more than three years after the calamity determined that 91 people were killed. Another 250 people were injured.
