NTSB Releases Initial Report on Ohio Train Derailment; Details Raise Questions on Buttigieg’s Policy Response
NTSB Releases Initial Report on Ohio Train Derailment; Details Raise Questions on Buttigieg’s Policy Response
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By DOMINIC PINO
February 23, 2023 5:55 PMListen to article
The National Transportation Safety Board released a four-page preliminary report on the February 3 train accident in East Palestine, Ohio. The report lays out the timeline of what occurred and confirms some details that earlier reports had suggested.
What the NTSB Said
The Norfolk Southern train derailed at 8:54 p.m. on February 3 on the Fort Wayne Line between Chicago and Pittsburgh. Weather was clear, with no precipitation and cold temperatures. The train had 149 cars, 20 of which were carrying hazardous materials. The train had two locomotives at the head and one locomotive between cars 109 and 110. (Placing a locomotive in the middle of a train is called “distributed power,” and it helps to operate long trains more safely. The distributed-power locomotive operates by radio connection with the head locomotives to allow a more even application of traction throughout the train.)
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Thirty-eight total cars derailed, of which eleven were carrying hazardous materials. The hazardous materials started on fire, which caused damage to an additional twelve non-derailed cars and caused first responders to implement a one-mile evacuation zone that affected up to 2,000 people.
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The train was traveling at 47 miles per hour when it derailed, below the speed limit of 50 miles per hour. The positive-train-control system, which is in place on all major freight lines in the country and enforces proper spacing and speed of trains, was enabled and operating as normal.
An overheating wheelset was the cause of this derailment, and the NTSB has identified the exact wheelset that caused it. The train passed three wayside hotbox detectors before it derailed. Hotbox detectors are safety devices that use infrared sensors to measure how far the temperature of the wheelset is above the ambient temperature. The NTSB listed two temperature thresholds where the engineer should stop the train in response to a hotbox detector reading:
- If the reading is between 170°F and 200°F above ambient temperature, it’s a non-critical warm bearing that should be inspected.
- If the reading is greater than 200°F above ambient temperature, it’s a critical warm bearing, and the railcar should be removed.
When the train passed the first hotbox detector at milepost 79.9, the bearing on the car that caused the derailment was at 23°F above ambient temperature. When it passed the second hotbox detector at milepost 69.01, it was 103°F above ambient temperature. When it passed the third hotbox detector at milepost 49.81, it was 253°F above ambient temperature.
