NTSB: Inadequate Rail Inspection to Blame for 2006 NS Derailment
WASHINGTON — Norfolk Southern Railroad’s inadequate rail inspection and maintenance program resulted in a rail fracture from an undetected internal defect, which is to blame for an October 2006 derailment. Contributing to the accident was the Federal Railroad Administration’s inadequate oversight of the internal rail inspection process and its insufficient requirements for internal rail inspection. On Oct. 20, 2006, a Norfolk Southern freight train (68QB119), en route from the Chicago area to Sewaren, N.J., derailed while crossing the Beaver River railroad bridge in New Brighton, P.a. The train consisted of a three-unit locomotive pulling three empty freight cars and 83 tank