Death toll rises to 9 as officials seek answers
By: Kytja Weir
June 22, 2009
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| Investigators and officials look over the collision scene of two Metro transit trains in Northeast Washington, Tuesday, June 23, 2009. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) |
Authorities raised the death toll of Monday¹s fatal Metro train crash to nine on Tuesday morning as investigators began dismantling the crash scene to determine what caused one Red Line train to slam into another on a section of track in Northeast D.C.
Two more people were in critical condition in local hospitals and more than 70 were recovering from injuries in the crash, said D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty. But it is possible more bodies are hidden in the wreckage as he said the rear car was crumpled to nearly a third of size. Rescuers pulled five bodies out Tuesday morning.
"The scene is one that no one should have to see," said General Manager John Catoe after visiting the crash site. "It is far worse than you can imagine, to see that type of damage to a vehicle."
Authorities had not released the names of the dead passengers as they were still trying to identify them and notify their families. But Metro officials did identify the deceased operator of the Metro train that crashed into the stopped train as Jeanice McMillan, 42, of Springfield, Va.. She had been a Metro employee since January 2007 but it was not immediately clear how long she had been operating trains.
Catoe said trains throughout the system had been held up Monday afternoon just before the 5 p.m. crash because of the usual delays of rush hour. The 6-car train that was hit had been stopped to let another train ahead of load its passengers. All the trains were using the automatic driving system as is standard during rush hour service, and were thus stopped. "Everyone else got the signal," Catoe said.
But the train that caused the accident failed to stop in time. The speed limit in that stretch of track is 50 to 60 mph, and Catoe said the wreckage shows it was going fast. "It was a significant speed," he said.
The front car of that train hit with such force that it rose up into the air and landed on top of the rear car of the stopped train. It lay tilted in a near 45-degree angle above the other car.
Investigators will try to determine if the train was in manual or automatic mode and whether McMillan was able to engage the brakes before the impact.
All automatic trains run as long as the operator keeps her hand on what is known as a ³dead man¹s switch.² When the switch isn¹t engaged, the acceleration of the train stops, but does not trigger the brakes, Catoe said.
Other attention has turned to the type of rail car that caused the crash: The 1000 series, the oldest in the system¹s fleet. Such trains have been deemed not "crash worthy" by the National Transportation Safety Board as that series do not crash safely, leaving little room for survivors. Metro has 293 rail cars of that make, said Metro spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein, nearly a third of the fleet.
National Transportation Safety Board member Debbie Hersman said the board had recommended that Metro either retrofit or phase out the 1000 series rail cars. "They have not been able to do that," she said Tuesday, which she said was an "unacceptable status."
The transit agency was also told to equip those rail cars with data recorders that capture the speed and other aspects in case of a crash, she said.
Because the crashed train did not have those, Hersman said investigators do not expect to recover much data about speed before the impact. Instead they will have to piece together other evidence.
Catoe said he was not sure if those rail cars could be retrofitted with such data recorders. He also said he has pushed for replacing the rail cars since he arrived at Metro in 2007.
"We need to replace them," Catoe said. "They are 35 years old."
But the financially challenged transit system has not had the money, said Metro spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein. The transit system is currently working on ordering new rail cars but they will take years to arrive.
In the meantime, Catoe said all trains were being operated manually Tuesday and all trains were ordered to pull up to the eight-car track line at rail platforms. (The transit system has had problems with trains not pulling up to that line and opening its doors with cars still in train tunnels.) "We're doing everything we can to look at every safety issue we can," Catoe said.
He added: "Once we determine the cause of this, whatever resources, whatever actions are necessary we will commit to fixing them."
