Investigation of 2008 Metrolink crash finds the engineer ran a red light
A conductor steps down from the engine of a Metrolink train on the Los Angeles-bound Monday morning commute as service partially resumes for the first time since the September 12 head-on collision of a Metrolink commuter train with a freight train September 15, 2008 in Chatsworth, California. Twenty-four people were killed in the crash and a 25th has died in a hospital. Ninety-five of the 222 passengers were critically or seriously injured. Metrolink has blamed a Metrolink engineer who was killed in the crash for not stopping for a red light so the freight train could pass on a parallel track. It was the worst rail disaster in Metrolink history and worst in the U.S. for 15 years.
Federal investigators released findings this morning that the deadly 2008 Chatsworth Metrolink crash was caused when the engineer ran a red light, despite eyewitness claims that the light was green. Telephone records indicate that the engineer was text messaging around the time of the accident, but with engineers working 10-hour split shifts over 15-hour periods, could fatigue have also played a role? Is this a case of an engineer not having “his head in the game,” as NTSB Chairwoman Deborah Hersman has said, or was this an accident waiting to happen?
Guests:
Kitty Felde, KPCC’s Washington D.C. correspondent
Richard Katz, Vice-chairman of the Metrolink Board
- Patt Morrison for January 21, 2010
- The death of McCain-Feingold, the birth of unlimited corporate campaign spending
- Take a number, please… shorter wait times at your local HMO
- Storm update: it’s still raining
- Investigation of 2008 Metrolink crash finds the engineer ran a red light
- CBS to Focus on the Family during 2010 Super Bowl
- Ed Harris in “Wrecks”
Also on this episode
Events
Comedy Congress Live
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
7:30 p.m.
- 9 p.m.
The comedic material emanating from Washington D.C., and state capitols across the country, is enough to make any sitcom writer jealous, even if most of that comedy is unintentional. Our motto on Comedy Congress is that just when politics makes you want to cry, it’s usually best to laugh.
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