Computer faillure might be at fault in DC crash

Investigators and emergency personnel on Tuesday morning at the scene of the crash of two Washington subway trains after a rush-hour accident on Monday. (New York Times photo)

The death toll from a commuter train crash in Washington D.C. Monday has increased to nine, with 76 people injured, two of them in critical condition Tuesday.

Investigators looking into the deadly crash of two Metro transit trains focused Tuesday on why a computerized system failed to halt an oncoming train, and why the train failed to stop even though the emergency brake was pressed, AP reported.

At the time of the crash, the train also was operating in automatic mode, meaning it was controlled primarily by computer. In that mode, the operator's main job is to open and close the doors and respond in case of an emergency, according to the report.

Debbie Hersman, an investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board, said it was unclear whether the emergency brake actually was engaged when Monday's crash occurred. The mushroom-shaped button that activates it was found pushed down in the operator's compartment.

Hersman said it was not clear when the button was pressed or how it got that way. She also cited evidence of braking on the train's rotors, indicating it was likely that the operator tried to slow down.

The train plowed into a stopped train ahead of it at the height of the Monday evening rush hour, killing nine people and injuring more than 70. It was the deadliest accident in the 30-year history of the Washington Metro.

Crews spent Tuesday pulling apart the trains' wreckage and searching for victims' bodies. Authorities worked to determine why the train's safeguards apparently did not kick in.

"That train was never supposed to get closer than 1,200 feet, period," said Jackie Jeter, president of a union that represents Metro workers. (Right: The accident scene. Photo source: TimesOnline)

All Metro trains were running on manual control as a precaution against computer malfunction, AP reported.

The cars in the moving train were some of the oldest in the transit network, dating to the founding of the Metro system.

After touring the wreckage Tuesday of two Metro transit trains that crashed the day before, Washington Mayor Adrian Fenty said it was a sight that "no one should have to see," CNN reported.

The crash occurred along the Red Line just before 5 p.m. Monday on an above-ground track in D.C. near the border with Takoma Park, Maryland, CNN reported.

"We don't know at this point whether the operator could see the train in front of her in time to stop," Hersman said, noting that the weather at the time of the crash was good. "I did have the opportunity to walk the track with our investigators. I can tell you it is a scene of real devastation," she added according to the CNN report.

"The rear car overrode the first car, and much of the survivable space on that first car...was compromised," she said.

Since 2006, the NTSB has been urging the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority to bring its trains up to date.

The lead train had 5000-Series and 3000-Series cars, which are newer and have better technology than the cars in the rear train, which are 1000-Series cars.

There should be nine data recorders aboard the first train, which will aid the investigation a great deal if they aren't damaged, Hersman said. The recorders can provide data on such things as speed, braking and emergency applications.

The only other time in Metrorail's 33-year history that there were customer fatalities was in January 1982, when three people died as a result of a derailment between the Federal Triangle and Smithsonian Metrorail stations. In 2004, two Metrorail trains collided at the Woodley Park/Zoo-Adams Morgan Metrorail station causing some minor injuries, according to the CNN report.

Source: CNN, The Associated Press