Amtrak derailment in Montana that killed 3, injured dozens still under investigation
The cause of last month’s deadly Amtrak trail derailment in Montana, west of Joplin, has not yet been identified.
The National Transportation Safety Board in Tuesday’s preliminary report on the Sept. 25 accident that killed three and injured dozens more did not provide additional information about the cause, but confirmed the emergency brakes had been activated as the train was traveling between 75 and 78 mph, The Associated Press reported Tuesday.
As of Tuesday, it was “still very early” in the probe, but the board is “looking at everything,” according to NTSB spokesman Keith Holloway.
Georgia couple Margie and Don Vardahoe, who were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary with a cross-country trip, and Zachariah Schneider, a 28-year-old software developer from Illinois, were reportedly in the observation car — which had wrap-around windows — when they were killed. Holloway said NTSB could not confirm that the fatalities all took place in that car.
Schneider’s widow, Rebecca Schneider, is among the two dozen who have filed lawsuits against Amtrak and BNSF.
The damage from the derailment, according to Amtrak’s estimates, exceeds $22 million.
Of the 154 aboard the westbound Empire Builder, which NTSB said had a black box, 44 passengers and crew members were transported to hospitals for their injuries, while those not seriously injured were taken by bus to a nearby city for food and aid.
The train was just under that portion of track’s 79 mph speed limit when the emergency brakes were activated.
While eight cars derailed, two stayed on the track, as did two locomotives, suggesting a potential issue with one of the derailed cars or a broken rail beneath as they passed over, said Allan Zarembski, who directs the University of Delaware’s railway safety program.
An unidentified Amtrak employee, according to her lawyer Fred Bremseth, reported seeing a “30 foot dip” on the railway after the crash.
If Schneider receives the Amtrak and BNSF onboard videos she’s requested as part of her suit, the cause of the derailment could come to light ahead of NTSB’s final report, according to one of her lawyers, Robert Mongeluzzi.
With News Wire Services
