NTSB issues reports on UP conductor fatality, BNSF derailment

The National Transportation Safety Board yesterday released two investigative reports involving rail accidents: a final report on a 2022 fatal accident involving a Union Pacific Railroad conductor in Texas; and a preliminary report on the April 26 derailment of a BNSF Railway Co. train in New Mexico.

In the UP incident, a conductor was killed Aug. 29, 2022, during a shoving movement when two rail cars of the train derailed in UP’s Alfalfa Yard in El Paso, Texas.

The conductor was riding on the lead end of the first rail car when the train encountered a derail device. The device was placed on the yard lead earlier in the day to protect maintenance-of-way employees during an upcoming installation project. As the train entered the yard on the yard lead, the train encountered the derail device and two rail cars derailed.

One of these rail cars overturned, landed on its side, then slid into a residential property where it struck a natural gas line owned by Texas Gas Service. The rail car’s contact with the gas line did not result in a gas leak.

The NTSB determined that the probable cause of the employee fatality was the failure of personnel to contact the employee-in-charge before granting the train permission to enter the yard lead track.  To read the final report, click here.

In its preliminary report of the BNSF derailment, the NTSB reported that a westbound BNSF mixed-freight train derailed 35 rail cars near Manuelito, New Mexico.The derailed equipment included six tank cars containing propane, a type of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and hazardous material transported under pressure.

Four of these tank cars were breached and released their contents, which ignited. A fifth LPG tank car was exposed to the fire and released vapor through its pressure relief device.

The local fire department ordered a 2-mile evacuation. The local fire department chose to allow the LPG tank cars to burn overnight, and the fires were extinguished April 27. No injuries were reported.

NTSB investigators went to the scene to support the Federal Railroad Administration, which is leading the investigation of the derailment and will determine its probable cause. The NTSB will focus only on the performance of the DOT-112 tank cars and emergency response actions.