Early NTSB Test Results Reveal Circuit On Track Near Crash Site Didn't Work...Lawsuits Filed

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WASHINGTON - Investigators say a signaling system failed to detect a stopped commuter train during tests of the track where a deadly crash occurred this week in Washington, D.C.

The National Transportation Safety Board said Thursday that the train control system lost detection of a test train that was stopped in the same place as the train that was struck on Monday.

The NTSB also says the operator of the struck train was interviewed Thursday. He told investigators that his train was running in manual mode at the time of the crash. The operator says he was waiting for another train to clear when he felt a hard push to his train from behind.

Investigators say they are still examining the crash site to understand how the train control system functioned on Monday.

The Washington-area mass transit system will inspect every stretch of its tracks as federal investigators work to determine whether problems found with a signaling system in one area could have contributed to this week's crash that killed nine people.

Metro General Manager John Catoe also said Thursday the agency will start rearranging its trains to put the oldest and structurally weakest rail cars in the middle, instead of at the ends, where they are more vulnerable.

Catoe said he ordered inspections of all 3,000 circuits, or sections beneath the track that include a signaling system. The signals provide critical information to passing trains such as when to stop or slow down. Tests by the National Transportation Safety Board indicated a problem with one of the circuits in the area of Monday's crash.

Circuits are vital:

"Whether trains are operated in automatic or manual, these circuits are vital," said Debbie Hersman of the National Transportation Safety Board. "We're particularly interested in the speed commands that might be sent from that circuit when there's a train standing on that circuit."

Investigators were planning to test the track with a six-car train.

An engineering professor who's studied transportation safety said that if sensors failed on the track, it could have contributed to Monday's crash. He emphasized, though, that catastrophic crashes usually can't be blamed on a single factor.

"If the sensors didn't work properly, it deprived (the train operator) of very vital information," said Najm Meshkati, professor of engineering at the University of Southern California. The operator, he said, "was the last layer of defense."

Since the crash, the NTSB has also criticized Metro for failing to revamp or replace its 1000-series rail cars after previous warnings by the agency. The striking train, which sustained most of the damage in Monday's crash, was made up of those cars, which date back to the 1970s. The cars are not as good at withstanding crashes as later models.

Catoe insisted Thursday that the cars were safe, but said the agency was in the process of putting the 1000-series cars in the middle of trains, and not on the ends, as an added precaution. Metro spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said later it would not be possible to make that change in every case, but the agency will do it where they can.

The union representing Metro workers demanded that change on Wednesday.

Metro on Thursday reopened the two stations that had been closed since the crash, but only for rush hour. Trains were running along just one track, leaving the side damaged in the crash closed as the investigation continues.

Family seeks $950,000 in lawsuit:

A Washington couple who say their 15-year-old son was injured in the crash filed a lawsuit in federal court on Wednesday against Metro, which is formally known as the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority.

In the lawsuit, Imhotep Yakub and Dawn Flanagan say their son, Davonne Flanagan, was a passenger in the striking train. They say he fractured his femur and suffered other injuries. The family is seeking $950,000 in damages.

The deadliest crash in the rail system's 33-year history occurred when a train plowed into another that was stopped. The moving train was operating in automatic mode, which means it was primarily controlled by a computer, although there is evidence the operator applied the emergency brake.

Since the crash, trains have been manually controlled as a precaution against computer problems. Catoe said trains will continue running manually until all the circuits are inspected and the agency is "100 percent sure the system is in 100 percent working condition."

Hersman said inspectors found 300 feet to 400 feet of rails that showed signs of emergency braking. Hersman also has said the emergency brake control on the moving train was found pushed down, though it's not clear how or when that happened. The operator of the oncoming train was among the dead.

Hersman said investigators hoped to interview the operator of the other train on Thursday, a day after his release from the hospital.

NTSB officials say their investigations can take more than a year.


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DC Officials Previously Warned Of Aging Fleet's Safety Issues

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WASHINGTON - A transit operator on the job about three months in the nation's capital had just started her shift and took over an older train that federal safety officials had warned years earlier should be replaced.

About eight miles down the red line track, another train was stopped. In the blink of an eye, the trailing train, under automated control, slammed into the stopped one and jackknifed violently into the air, falling atop the first. Nine people were killed and more than 70 injured in Monday's crash.

"It was only a split second," said 20-year-old Jamie Jiao of Vienna, Va., who was aboard the moving train, sitting just a few feet from where the car was smashed. "We were probably traveling pretty fast. No one had time to react."

Now investigators are trying to find out why the train didn't stop, even though officials say the emergency brake control was pushed down and there was evidence that the operator tried to slow her car before impact.

"That train was never supposed to get closer than 1,200 feet, period," said Jackie Jeter, president of a union that represents Metro workers.

Mushrooms:

Emergency brake controls are referred to as "mushrooms" on transit trains, protruding from the operator's console so they can be slammed down with a swift slap of the palm.

Debbie Hersman, an investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board, said Tuesday it wasn't clear when the button was pressed or how it got that way. Much on the train, including toggle switches and other controls, could have been disturbed in the crash, she said.

Safety officials also are investigating a passenger's statement that the train had stopped briefly then started again before the accident.

The horror of the worst disaster in the system's 33-year history shocked the Washington region, where the Metro system is an integral part of the economic and social fabric.

As is typical of rush-hour trains, the moving train had been operating under automatic control, but the computerized system failed to avert the approaching crash. The transit agency tried to assure riders their trains were still safe and all were running on manual control Tuesday as a precaution against computer malfunction.

When the train is in automatic mode, the operator's main job is to open and close the doors and respond to emergencies.

Aging fleet:

The crash occurred near the D.C. and Maryland border, in an area where higher train speeds are common because there is a longer distance between stops. Trains can go 55 to 59 mph, though it was not clear how fast the train that crashed was traveling.

The cars in the moving train were some of the oldest in the transit network, dating to the founding of the system in 1976.

Federal officials had sought to phase out the aging fleet because of safety concerns, but the transit system kept the old trains running, saying it lacked money for new cars.

Hersman told The Associated Press that the NTSB had warned in 2006 that the old fleet should be replaced or retrofitted to make it better able to survive a crash.

Neither was done, she said, which the NTSB considered "unacceptable."

Metro General Manager John Catoe said the agency expected to receive proposals "over the next month or so" to replace the old cars, but new trains were still years away from being installed. He insisted the existing cars were safe.

This isn't the first time that Metro's automated system has been questioned. There was a close call in 2005 because of signal troubles in a tunnel under the Potomac River. Signal relays that control trains were replaced after a serious safety warning in May 2000 by the Federal Railroad Administration. The only other fatal crash was in 1982, when three people died in a derailment.

The operator of the train that barreled into the stopped cars was Jeanice McMillan, 42, of Springfield, Va., who was hired in January 2007 as a bus driver. She was tapped to become a train operator in January 2009, the NTSB said. McMillan completed training and began working as an operator in March.

Metro spokeswoman Candace Smith said there has been no indication that McMillan was sending text messages or talking on a cell phone, which contributed to passenger train crashes in other cities, though federal investigators were checking her phone records.

McMillan occasionally slept at the office if she couldn't catch a ride home after her shift ended, said Iyesha Thomas, a Metro employee who worked with her, and she was finishing up her work week. While investigators have not suggested fatigue played a part in the crash, they were reviewing McMillan's schedule in the days leading up to the crash.

"There is no evidence whatsoever that this driver has done anything to cause this accident," Catoe said Tuesday.

He described the aftermath as "one that no one should have to see. It was unbelievable destruction."

Later Tuesday, his voice choked with emotion as he addressed hundreds of employees at a prayer vigil, said his agency would find out what happened and solve whatever problem caused it.

"We cannot afford to lose any more of our own, or any more of our customers."


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