DC Metro Train collision death toll rises to 9...

[Dennis Donovan]

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/06/23/washington.metro.crash/index.html

Death toll rises to 9 in D.C. Metro crash

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The death toll climbed to nine in a rush-hour collision between two Metro trains in Washington on Monday, with scores more injured, CNN affiliates reported.

Commuter traffic along the Red Line, where the crash happened, will be "severely" affected Tuesday, officials said.

By late Monday, emergency crews had switched to recovery operations after halting rescue efforts.

One of the dead was the operator of one of the trains, transit authority officials said. The National Transportation Safety Board was investigating.

The crash occurred just before 5 p.m. on an above-ground track in the District of Columbia near the border with Takoma Park, Maryland.

Both trains were on the same track, and one of them was stationary when the crash happened, said John Catoe, Metro general manager. Watch woman say she, fellow passengers "went flying" »

A total of 76 people were treated for injuries at the scene, including two with life-threatening injuries, said Chief Dennis Rubin of the Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department for the District of Columbia. Two of the injured were emergency responders, Rubin said.

Four people were taken to Providence Hospital in Washington, including two with back injuries, one with a hip injury and one complaining of dizziness from hitting her head, hospital officials said.

Washington Hospital Center said it had received seven patients from the crash with non-life-threatening injuries, ranging from serious to minor. One person needed surgery. Howard University Hospital reported three patients from the crash and Suburban Hospital in Maryland said it had two.

One car was "about 75 percent compressed," and recovery workers aren't sure if any more bodies are inside, D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty told CNN's "Larry King Live" on Monday night.

[malaise]

1. Is this news?

Shouldn't it be in the DC forum? :sarcasm:

How sad!!! :cry: :cry: :cry:

[Dennis Donovan]

2. All of DU is technically a "DC Forum"

(*hint: look at the bottom of every page ;))

[malaise]

3. Note my sarcasm thingy

based on comments last night. The crash is news across the globe for obvious reasons. :hi:

[Rhiannon12866]

4. This was pretty much all that was on the news last night. Fortunately, the death toll hasn't risen.

They seem to have determined the cause, but I wonder if everyone is accounted for yet. They don't have a manifest like a plane would... ;(

Brake, computer failure possible train crash causes
NTSB says all activated prior to deadly wreck

WASHINGTON - The operator of the Metro train that slammed into a stationary train in front of it apparently had activated the emergency brake in a failed effort to stop before the deadly accident, federal officials said yesterday, as they searched for the cause of Monday’s Red Line wreck that killed nine and injured 80.

Debbie Hersman of the National Transportation Safety Board said the emergency brake, known as the “mushroom,’’ was depressed, and the steel rails showed evidence that the brakes were engaged. Investigators also said the striking train was in automatic mode, which means onboard computers should have controlled its speed and stopped it before it got too close to the stationary train.

In addition, Metro sources said, the first two cars of that train were two months overdue for scheduled maintenance of some braking components.

Taken together, specialists say, these facts point to several possible scenarios: the operator activated the brake too late; the computers that are supposed to stop a train from getting too close to another train faltered; the train’s brakes failed; or some combination of those. Some people on the striking train said that they never felt the train slow down.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2009/06/24/brake_computer_failure_possible_train_crash_causes/