NTSB – Page 5 – Railfanning.org

NTSB Adds Improving Transit Railcar Design to ‘Most Wanted’ List

February 19, 2010 Railfanning.org News Wire

WASHINGTON — The National Transportation Safety Board issued its 2010 Federal Most Wanted List of Transportation Safety Improvements, adding rail, aviation and marine issues, and updating the status of other issues on the list. At the same time, the Board removed the issue areas dealing with improved protection for school bus passengers and fatigue in the pipeline industry. “Every one of the hundreds of currently open safety recommendations address concerns that the Safety Board has uncovered in its accident investigations,” NTSB Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman said. “But the recommendations on the Most Wanted list represent those improvements that can have

NTSB Heads to WMATA Derailment

February 12, 2010 Railfanning.org News Wire

WASHINGTON — The National Transportation Safety Board has dispatched an investigator to a Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) derailment in Washington, DC. NTSB has designated Jim Southworth, Chief, Railroad Division, as the Investigator-in-Charge. At 10:15 am, (EST), a northbound WMATA Red Line train, consisting of six train cars, derailed north of the Farragut North station. There were three minor injuries reported.

NTSB to meet on ‘Most Wanted’ List

February 12, 2010 Railfanning.org News Wire

WASHINGTON — The National Transportation Safety Board will hold a public Board meeting Thursday, February 18, at 9:30 a.m., in its Board Room and Conference Center, 429 L’Enfant Plaza, S.W., Washington, D.C. The Board will 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 emergency helicopter medical services, intelligent highway technologies, motor carrier operations and operator fatigue. The Board will also discuss

NTSB Investigating WMATA Accident

January 26, 2010 Railfanning.org News Wire

WASHINGTON — The National Transportation Safety Board has launched a team of investigators to today’s Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) accident in Rockville, Md. At 1:45 am (EST) a hi-rail vehicle, in the work zone on the red line near Rockville Station, struck and killed two employees on the track. The Metro employees, both males, were struck by a prime mover, a diesel-powered piece of equipment that is used to move heavy equipment, according to the preliminary report from Metro Transit Police. The employees were working along an outbound section of track on the Red Line in the direction

Federal Authorities Want Recorders in Train Cabs

January 21, 2010 Railfanning.org News Wire

WASHINGTON — Federal authorities want trains to be equipped with audio and image recorders capable of providing recordings to verify that train crew actions are in accordance with rules and procedures that are essential to safety as well as train operating conditions. The recommendation was part of a National Transportation Safety Board investigation into a fatal 2008 Metrolink wreck.

NTSB to Discuss Fatal Metrolink Wreck

January 15, 2010 Railfanning.org News Wire

WASHINGTON — The National Transportation Safety Board will hold a Board meeting on Jan. 21to discuss a fatal 2008 Metrolinktrain crash. 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 wreck, the Metrolink engineer, who was responsible for the operation of the train, received and sent several text messages on his cell phone while he was on duty. The meeting is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. in its Board Room and Conference Center,

WMATA Officials Brief Safety Groups About Rail Yard Collision

November 30, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire

WASHINGTON — Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority officials met with members of the Federal Transit Administration, National Transportation Safety Board and the Tri-State Oversight Committee and walked them through preliminary information related to a Nv. 29 collision of two trains in the West Falls Church Rail Yard. The meeting was called by Metro and was a follow-up to personal contact that Metro’s General Manager John Catoe and safety officials made in reaching out to inform officials of the FTA, NTSB and TOC about the accident, WMATA said. The general manager also briefed members of the Metro Board of Directors about

Inspector Gives NTSB Clean Bill

November 18, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire

WASHINGTON — For the seventh consecutive year the National Transportation Safety Board’s financial statements received an unqualified, or “clean,” opinion from the Department of Transportation Inspector General. The results are from an audit conducted on the Safety Board’s financial statements for Fiscal Year 2009. The opinion comes at a time when the Board has realized improvement in several management measurements. “As proud as I am of the continuing professionalism of the NTSB’s accident investigations,” NTSB Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman said, “I am gratified that the agency has demonstrated achievement in its stewardship of taxpayer resources.” Recently, the Government Accountability Office issued

NTSB Announces Hearing on Fatal WMATA Wreck

November 12, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire

WASHINGTON – The National Transportation Safety Board today announced that it will hold a public hearing on February 23-24, 2010, as part of its ongoing investigation into the collision of two Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) Metrorail Red Line trains on June 22 that occurred between the Fort Totten and Takoma Park stations in Washington, D.C. As a result of this accident, there were nine fatalities and numerous injuries. The two-day hearing will convene on Tuesday, February 23, 2010, at the NTSB’s Board Room and Conference Center, 429 L’Enfant Plaza, S.W., Washington. The purpose of the hearing will be

NTSB Releases Info on Fatal Iowa Wreck

October 2, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire

WASHINGTON — In its continuing investigation of a freight train accident in July in Iowa, killing two, the NTSB has developed the following factual information: — At approximately 2:08 a.m. CDT on July 14, 2009, a southbound Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad (DME) train consisting of two locomotives and 83 freight cars collided with railcars that had been placed on a track on the west side of the Bettendorf rail yard (located in the city of Bettendorf, Iowa) by a BNSF train crew. Both of the crewmembers on the DME train, an engineer and a conductor, were fatally injured in