NTSB issues preliminary report on Amtrak derailment in Missouri

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) late last week released a first report of its investigation into the fatal Amtrak train derailment that occurred June 27 in Mendon, Missouri.

The train was carrying 270 passengers and 12 crew members when it collided with a 2007 Kenworth dump truck that was passing through a grade crossing on track owned by BNSF Railway Co.

Three passengers and the truck driver died, and multiple passengers and crew members were transported to local hospitals with injuries, the NTSB reported. Property damage estimated by Amtrak and BNSF totals $4 million.

The train on Amtrak’s Southwest Chief was on its way to Chicago from Los Angeles when the crash occurred. The crossing was equipped with crossbucks and a stop sign. All locomotives and rail cars derailed with seven of the cars coming to a rest on their side.

BNSF authorizes train movements with a traffic control system in the vicinity of the accident area. Train movements are coordinated by a BNSF train dispatcher in Fort Worth, Texas. The maximum speed on the track is 90 mph for passenger trains, and the positive train control system was enabled and operating at the time of the collision, according to the report.

Preliminary review of the data from the leading locomotive’s event recorder showed that the train was traveling 89 mph when its emergency brakes were activated. The weather was clear with no precipitation at the time of the accident.

NTSB investigators on the scene conducted grade crossing and highway vehicle inspections, reviewed data from the lead locomotive’s forward-facing image recorder and event recorder, obtained the dump truck’s engine control module and conducted interviews.

The NTSB's investigation is ongoing. Future investigative activity will focus on highway-rail grade crossing design specifications, rail-car design, survival factors and passenger rail-car crashworthiness, the report stated.