Computer Failure At Fault In D.C. Crash?

Train Crash Killed 9, Injured More Than 70 In Deadliest Crash In Metro's History

(CBS/AP)  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.

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.

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.

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

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

Federal officials had sought to phase out the aging fleet because of safety worries, but swapping out all the old cars would cost a $1 billion Metro doesn't have, reports CBS News correspondent Nancy Cordes.

"We've gone out for a proposal to replace those vehicles and seeking the capital dollars to do so," John Catoe, the general manager of Metro told Cordes.

Hersman told The Associated Press that the NTSB had warned in 2006 that the old fleet should be replaced or retrofitted to make it better able to survive a crash.

Neither was done, she said, which the NTSB considered "unacceptable."

Metro General Manager John Catoe said the agency expected to receive proposals "over the next month or so" to replace the old cars, but new trains were still years away from being installed. He insisted the existing cars were safe.

This was not the first time that Metro's automated system has been called into question.

In June 2005, Metro experienced a close call because of signal troubles in a tunnel under the Potomac River. A train operator noticed he was getting too close to the train ahead of him even though the system indicated the track was clear. He hit the emergency brake in time, as did the operator of another train behind him.

Shortly after that incident, Metro attributed the problem to a defective communications cable.

The signal relays that control trains were replaced after a serious safety warning in May 2000 by the Federal Railroad Administration. The warning came after failed relays were detected on the system, formally known as the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority.

The operator of the train that barreled into the stopped cars Monday was identified by Metro officials as Jeanice McMillan, 42.

McMillan was hired in March 2007 as a bus driver and was tapped to become a train operator in December. Metro officials say employees start as bus drivers before moving to trains.

Investigators want McMillan's cell phone and texting records to determine whether she was distracted before the crash, Hersman said.

Safety officials also are investigating a passenger's statement that the train had stopped briefly then started again before the crash.

Iyesha Thomas, a Metro employee who worked with McMillan, said McMillan would often work the late shift. She did not have a car and if she was unable to get a ride home, she would sleep at Metro's offices, take the first train to her home area and return to work later.

A neighbor, Aicha Mezlini, said McMillan was killed driving the first train on her 4 p.m.-to-11 p.m. shift. She said McMillan normally worked Tuesday and Wednesday, but last week Metro changed her shift to Monday.

"There is no evidence whatsoever that this driver has done anything to cause this accident," Catoe said Tuesday.

The crash occurred on the red line near the District of Columbia-Maryland border, in an area where higher train speeds are common because there is a longer distance between stops. Trains can go 55 to 59 mph, although it was unclear how fast the train that crashed was traveling.

Meanwhile on Tuesday, emergency crews cut away the top of the train that jackknifed on top of a stopped train. They removed the debris with help from a crane brought in overnight.

"The scene that I witnessed was one that no one should have to see," Catoe said. "It was unbelievable destruction."

Later, his voice choked with emotion as he addressed hundreds of employees at a prayer vigil Tuesday. He told them the agency will find out what caused the accident and develop a solution.

"We cannot afford to lose any more of our own, or any more of our customers," Catoe said. "I need your prayers. This agency needs your prayers."

Metro has long pleaded for more money to ensure the system's safety. The transit network is supported by the District of Columbia, Maryland and the Virginia jurisdictions that it serves. However, unlike other major systems, Metro has no dedicated funding source.

Metro officials have long argued that the federal government should contribute because the trains serve the capital, and some 40 percent of rush-hour riders are federal workers.

Catoe said last year it would take $7 billion just to maintain current service and keep the system running safely and reliably from 2010 to 2020. That includes replacements for aging rail cars.

It would take billions more, he said, to deploy longer trains and more buses to meet the projected increase in demand. The number of passenger trips taken on Metro trains is expected to grow 22 percent to about 1 million a day by 2020.

Some passengers involved in Monday's crash returned to the site Tuesday to get another look at the destruction.

Jamie Jiao, 20, said he was aboard the first car of the moving train just a few feet from where the car was smashed.

"It was only a split second," he said. "We were probably traveling pretty fast. No one had time to react."

Jiao had two bandages on his face, and his foot was in a splint. He was walking with a cane and complained of aches in his back. "I'm thankful it isn't more serious," he said.

Tijuana Cox, 21, was in the train that was hit. She had her sprained arm in a sling Tuesday.

"Everybody just went forward and came back," with people's knees hitting the seats in front of them, Cox said.

The only other fatal crash in the Metro subway system occurred Jan. 13, 1982, when three people died as a result of a derailment. That was a day of disaster in the capital: Shortly before the subway crash, an Air Florida plane slammed into the 14th Street Bridge immediately after takeoff from Washington National Airport. The plane crash, during a severe snowstorm, killed 78 people.

In January 2007, a subway train derailed in downtown Washington, sending 20 people to the hospital and requiring the rescue of 60 others from the tunnel.

In November 2006, two Metro track workers were struck and killed by an out-of-service train. An investigation found that the train operator failed to follow safety procedures. Another Metro worker was struck and killed in May 2006.

[Richard_Saunders]

Automated systems are used everyday in a variety of fields, from transportation, to the food we eat. They are extremely useful in controlling repetitive tasks, or tasks that would otherwise require constant vigilance and attention. The key is to design the system properly, and to maintain it properly.

It appears the system may not have been designed properly. The article mentions that in 2005 the system indicated the track was clear when it was not due to a defective communications cable. This should never happen.

Systems should always be designed to "fail" to a safe condition. If a cable is cut or damaged, it should show that a train is present, even if it is not there, not the other way around.

[ahrats]

This will happen again probally on another train system with a similar set-up (relying on computers). The computer relys on signals from control devices that may be ************* and does not have eyes.
The money this metro system saved on not upgrading, well you just spent it on lawsuits. the best system works both ways an operator can see what in front of them where a computer can not, but the computer can notify an operator you just missed a signal to do something i.e. red light, and automatically does what the operator should do. they are a back-up system to each other.

[rhs648]

Metro operators do not earn minimum wages. In a 2006 Examiner.com article, metro drivers and operators often earn over $100,000 per year with overtime pay. The following paragraph is from the article.

"Roughly $30 million of the overtime payments went to Metro?s 2,400 bus operators and 500 train operators, 125 of whom earned more than $100,000 that year. Another 284 hourly Metro workers in other departments earned more than $100,000 because of overtime. Only 180 of Metro?s salaried management employees earned more than $100,000."

To portray Metro drivers and operators as minimum wage earners is a distortion of fact. Further, to blame this tragedy on underpaid workers is false. Anyone earning around $100,00 is not earning minimum or low pay by most standards. In addition to their pay, Metro workers enjoy both health insurance benefits and pensions.

[rhs648]

There is no reason why an automated or computerized system can't be trusted as long as everything is working properly. The question is what went wrong? Was it a software bug, a computer system crash, a mechanical failure, or a lack of proper masintenance. To contend that humans could do better is rediculous. Look at the recent incident in Boston where the operator wast text messaging his girlfriend at the time of a crash. Are we to trust a calculator or the human mind to add numbers together? Most of us would agree that calculators are faster and more accurate as long as the operator imputs the right numbers.

[djberson]

I love how they are blaming the so-called "aging trains", and computer systems and everything else under the sun. First of all, there is no reason the trains can't run for 50 years and then some. It is called preventative maintenance, and old trains can be maintained in like-new condition. There is no excuse for complete failure of a train's braking system. I suspect however, that this is not the true source of the problem anyway... it was likely human error more than anything else.

[jetranger7]

The comment above - I couldn't of said it any better !!!!!

[tmittelstaed]

For the last 40 years transit administrators have waged a campaign to get cars under centralized control, with the train engineers job steadily reduced in responsibility until the engineers aren't even called engineers anymore, but are called "operators" and have little control over the train aside from pushing an emergency button, opening doors, or helping little old ladies in and out of the train. They claim this is in the name of "safety" but the real reason is to be able to pay minimum wage to the operators and use untrained people off the street as employees. Now, a massive crash happens and the administrators have no choice but to blame the automatic systems, since only an imbecile would believe the operator had anything to do with the crash.
These train systems reap what they sow. They wanted to pay peanuts to the operators and remove all responsibility from those jobs, they got it. Now they are blaming the systems. It's no different than blaming your car for the accident you got into. I hope that people like John Cato are tortured for the rest of their lives by the realization that until you pay good wages for the train operators and put the responsibility of control of the train back on them, your going to have people dying from old worn out equipment. They know EXACTLY what they are doing - why do you think that Metro's first immediate response was to put all trains back on manual control. They need to leave them on manual control, rip out all that computerized control garbage, and pay good wages to train drivers they can trust.