Driver in Fatal Spanish Train Was on Phone, Court Says

[onehandle]

Source: New York Times

MADRID — The driver of the train that derailed and killed 79 people in Spain was on the phone and traveling at 95 mph (153 kph) — almost twice the speed limit — when the crash happened last week, according to a preliminary investigation released Tuesday.

The train had been going as fast as 119 mph (192 kph) shortly before the derailment, and the driver activated the brakes "seconds before the crash," according to a written statement from the court in Santiago de Compostela, whose investigators gleaned the information from two "black box" data recorders recovered from the train.

The speed limit on the section of track was 50 mph (80 kph).

The crash occurred near Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain, and was the country's worst rail accident in decades. Some 66 people are still hospitalized for injuries, 15 of whom are in critical condition.


Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2013/07/30/world/europe/ap-eu-spain-train-derailment-.html

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Buffoon.

[Throckmorton]

1. Time for more Automation.

A location based speed control system might have prevented this entirely.

[Atman]

4. The article says they had one...but it stopped 3 miles before where the crash occurred

"Authorities have said that a high-tech automatic braking program called the European Rail Traffic Management System was installed on most of the high-speed track leading from Madrid north to Santiago de Compostela — the route Garzon's train took. But the cutting-edge coverage stops just 5 kilometers (3 miles) south of where the crash occurred, placing a greater burden on the driver to take charge."

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2013/07/30/world/europe/ap-eu-spain-train-derailment-.html?_r=0

[Atman]

2. Well, this is not going to look good on Garzon's resume.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

3. I thought that curve looked awful sharp for the speed....

Here's the viral video of the crash:

[snot]

5. Time to outlaw phone use while driving ––

ANY kind of phone use, while driving ANYTHING bigger than a tricycle.

[love_katz]

6. Totally agree with your post.

There was a commuter train in California which collided head-on with a freight train (many people killed and injured) which was found to be caused by the engineer sending text messages before the crash. He had also been letting teen-age rail-enthusiasts drive the train the night before, and was planning on doing that again on the night of the crash.

Some testimony regarding the Costa Concordia disaster says that the Captain of the ship was on the phone when he drove his ship into the rocky reef off the island of Giglio in Italy.

These kinds of stories, along with all the idiocy I see on the road each day because people are indulging in too many distractions while driving leaves me feeling supportive of a complete ban on talking on phones or texting while driving.

Here is the link for the story on the Chatsworth, CA train crash: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Chatsworth_train_collision

Here is another link suggesting that the Chatsworth train crash may have a lesson for the crash in the OP: http://www.presstelegram.com/opinions/ci_23755598/spanish-train-wreck-may-have-california-lesson-thomas

[Ghost Dog]

7. Driver appears to have received a work-related phone call:

... According to the investigation so far, train driver Francisco Jose Garzon Amo received a call from an official of national rail company Renfe on his work phone in the cabin, not his personal cellphone, to tell him what approach to take toward his final destination.

The Renfe employee on the telephone "appears to be a controller," a person who organizes train traffic across the rail network, said a statement from a court in Santiago de Compostela, where the investigation is based.

"From the contents of the conversation and from the background noise it seems that the driver (was) consulting a plan or similar paper document."

The statement on the preliminary findings did not indicate whether such a phone conversation is common between a driver of a moving train and a controller, and it did not say how long the call lasted. It did not name the Renfe official who called the driver, nor did it further describe what plan or document the driver was consulting...

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2013/07/30/world/europe/ap-eu-spain-train-derailment-.html?_r=0

... In a statement, Santiago Court Judge Luis Aláez, who is handling the investigation, said that the driver, Francisco José Garzón, was talking on the phone to a Renfe official and consulting a document at the time last Wednesday’s crash occurred...

... Just as he was approaching the A Grandeira curve in Santiago’s Angrois neighborhood, Garzón had received a call instructing him where to go after the train reached its final destination of Ferrol. Based on the recording, the driver was apparently trying to consult a document at the same time...

...Garzón has acknowledged that he was going at twice the permitted speed when he came around the curve, but he explained to the judge on Sunday that he got confused and even believed he was approaching a similar curve, which he had passed two kilometers earlier. He remains free on his own recognizance...

/... http://elpais.com/elpais/2013/07/30/inenglish/1375210834_094925.html

[rickyhall]

8. I guess a "co-driver" would cost too much?

Surprised airlines haven't ditched co-pilots yet!