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| AMTRAK SAFETY and DERAILMENT INFORMATION |
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| AMTRAK SAFETY INSPECTIONS FAIL CAUSING MULTIPLE DERAILMENTS AND ACCIDENTS THROUGHOUT U.S.A. |
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AMTRAK Derailments, Accidents, Delays Crew members left in the dark! Sunday, August 10, 1997 Amtrak train derails KINGMAN, Ariz. -- A cross-country Amtrak superliner jumped its tracks over a rain-weakened bridge early Saturday, plunging into a flooded desert wash and hurling passengers through the cars. No one died in the derailment at 5 a.m., when most of the 307 travelers were asleep during their journey from Los Angeles to Chicago. The accident left about 150 passengers injured and the rest with shattered nerves and ruined summer vacations. Amtrak and federal safety officials said late Saturday they haven't determined the official cause of the wreck but suspect it was triggered by a bridge collapse. A thunderstorm had hit Kingman just hours earlier, showering the area with 1.76 inches of rain. "We know for sure it was weather-related -- flooding," said Jim Sabourin, a spokesman for Burlington Northern-Santa Fe Corp., the railroad that owns the track. Amtrak's train No. 4 on the Southwest Chief route had been heading east at about 90 mph parallel to old Route 66. The train had nine double-decker passenger cars, seven mail and baggage-handling cars and four engines, Amtrak officials reported. Three of the engines crossed a wooden trestle over a flooded wash about 13 miles east of Kingman, 100 miles southeast of Las Vegas. The bridge then buckled, causing the fourth engine and the cars behind it to disengage from the rails. All remained upright and none fell into the muddy water. "It sounds bad -- a train derailment. But believe me, it could have been much, much worse. Those cars could have flipped over and killed a lot of people," said Larry Carver, an Arizona paramedic, one of the first rescuers on the scene. Passengers reported waking to sudden jerks, roller-coasterlike jolts and deafening metal-on-metal screeches as the train braked to a halt. "It felt like it was a minute, but I'm sure it was just seconds that the shifting and falling and tumbling went on," said Jonathan Bose, a 43-year-old from Essex, England. "It seemed like an eternity waiting for it to stop." "There was screaming, yelling, and someone said people were flying through the air," said Doug Fischer, 57, an insurance agent from Albuquerque, N.M. In five to 10 seconds, it was over. Fischer said rescue crews resonded so quickly that he saw emergency lights flashing in the distance a few minutes after the crash. About 100 travelers were taken by school buses to Kingman Regional Medical Center. Of those, 30 were admitted for injuries, many to the head and back, and eight remained hospitalized Saturday evening. The remaining 70 were treated in a makeshift triage center, then bused to a shelter in the Kingman Junior High School gymnasium. "Mostly we saw a lot of sprains and contusions," said hospital Chief Executive Officer Brian Turney. "Nothing appeared to be life-threatening." Another 29 passengers were taken to Bullhead Community Hospital in Bullhead City, Ariz. All were treated and released except one man, who remained hospitalized for diabetes. The Flagstaff Regional Medical Center received two patients who remained hospitalized Saturday in critical condition. Another man, who was taken to John C. Lincoln Hospital and Health Center in Phoenix, also was listed as critical. Five passengers were flown to Southern Nevada by two helicopters from the 66th Air Rescue Squadron at Nellis Air Force Base. Two of those patients were treated for minor injuries at Valley Hospital and Medical Center and released later Saturday. Three others, Scammon, Kan., resident Vickie Babcock, 36, and her sons, Adam and Zachary, were taken to University Medical Center. Vickie Babcock underwent back surgery and was in fair condition late Saturday. Adam, 9, was admitted for observation after suffering minor injuries; and Zachary, 14, was treated and released, hospital officials said. By Saturday night, 14 passengers remained hospitalized in five cities. Most of the remaining travelers rested on tumbling mats in the junior high gym and were offered food, drinks, books, magazines, videos and telephones by Kingmanites eager to help. "It seems like there were more volunteers than victims," said Principal Betsy Parker. "The whole town has come out in support." The superliner left Los Angeles on Friday evening and was due in Chicago this afternoon. Amtrak workers gathered luggage and other cargo from the wreck site and bused some passengers to their final destinations in Albuquerque and Raton, N.M. Travel arrangements for others were being made late Saturday. Amtrak officials said they did not know how many of the train's 18 crew members were injured in the wreck. The National Transportation Safety Board sent a 15-member investigative team to the site. An agency spokesman said the group, which was scheduled to arrive late Saturday, included board Chairman Jim Hall. Investigators with the Federal Railroad Administration, Amtrak, Burlington Northern-Santa Fe and six federal, state and local agencies also worked at the scene, combing for clues about the accident. A Burlington inspector had checked the tracks and trestle for possible damage from the rainstorm less than three hours before the accident, Sabourin said. The rail line is equipped with an automatic signal system that can sense problems on a track and stop a train, said Morrie Goodman, a federal safety board spokesman. But his agency won't know until it finishes its investigation whether the system could have detected the problem on the track, he said. An FBI agent also surveyed the scene early Saturday, as is routine in passenger train derailments. The agent found no indication of sabotage, said Jack Callahan, a special agent in Phoenix. On Oct. 9, 1995, an Amtrak liner hit a section of vandalized track and toppled 30 feet from a trestle in the desert 55 miles southwest of Phoenix. A sleeping car attendant was killed and 78 other people were injured. Near that crash site, a passenger found a note signed "Sons of the Gestapo." The note contained references to incidents in Waco, Texas, and Ruby Ridge, Idaho, leading investigators to believe there may be a militia connection. Residents say the rampage was the worst tragedy to hit town since 1973, when a propane tank on a railroad car exploded, killing 12 people, including 11 firefighters. Freight trains without an available alternate route were backed up for miles on both sides of Saturday's wreck. The rail line is a major east-west thoroughfare across the country and formerly was the main line of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway. The line was expected to be closed at least until today, Sabourin said. Some 45 to 50 trains use the tracks daily. Union Pacific's, not Burlington Northern-Santa Fe's, tracks pass through Las Vegas. That's the line used for 91 years by Amtrak's Desert Wind superliner connecting Los Angeles to Salt Lake City. The service was discontinued in May. Copyright: Disaster Relief Org. 1997  http://www.disaster.net/index.html http://www.disasters.org/emgold/ http://www.emergency.com/disaster.htm |
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