NTSB opens public docket for 2015 Metrolink accident

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on Monday opened the public docket for its investigation into a fatal 2015 Metrolink commuter-rail accident in Oxnard, Calif.

The docket contains more than 2,200 pages of factual group reports, interviews, photographs and other investigative materials, according to an NTSB press release.

The accident occurred Feb. 24, 2015, when a commuter train carrying 51 passengers and three crew members collided with a utility service truck towing a two-axle utility trailer.

The driver had turned right from South Rice Avenue onto Union Pacific Railroad track, and the truck became lodged on the track 80 feet west of the grade crossing. The truck driver fled his vehicle and the scene prior to the crash.

The train consisted of a cab/coach car in the lead, three coach cars and a locomotive at the rear. The train's engineer was killed in the crash, and 32 passengers were injured.

Public docket information contains only factual information collected by NTSB investigators. Analysis, findings, recommendations or probable cause determinations will be determined at a later date, NTSB officials said.