Train Ran Signal Before Deadly Crash

The freight train involved in Tuesday's deadly collision with a commuter train ran a red signal light moments before the crash, investigators said Wednesday.

"There is no question the Burlington Northern train should have stopped," National Transportation Safety Board Chairwoman Marion Blakey said.

She stopped short of blaming human error, saying officials were continuing to investigate.

Investigators said they found no problems with railroad signals, equipment or the tracks, Blakey said.

She said the freight train should have stopped at the signal but instead rolled through it at 48 mph. The freight train began braking about 2,100 feet before the crash, and had slowed to 20 mph at impact.

The Metrolink engineer saw the other engine coming and ordered the commuter train to stop, Blakey said.

"He did have time to leave the cab to proceed toward the back of the first car and warn the passengers," she said.

Originally it was thought that a malfunctioning signal may have been to blame for the collision of the commuter train and the mile-long freight.

Two people were killed and more than 260 injured in the morning rush-hour accident near Placentia Tuesday. It was the worst accident in the nine-year history of Metrolink, which carries 32,000 passengers on 128 trains daily across the greater Los Angeles region.

Investigators are interviewing crew members of both trains and pulling personnel records and work schedules. "We want to look particularly at that 72-hour window before the crews came on duty to see what may have factored in in terms of their performance," Blakey said.

Passengers were left dazed, bloodied and shell-shocked. Some were thrown from their seats, others clambered from windows of the mangled train.

"It sounded like a bomb and it felt like an earthquake," said Jackie Bisesi, who witnessed Tuesday's crash.

People who witnessed the accident said the Metrolink train came to a stop at a crossing and was hit moments later by the freight train. Metrolink passenger Bill Marin, 50, said some riders stood up, apparently thinking their train had reached its next station.

"The people who were standing seemed to be the worst injured," he said.

Dan Veenbaas, 49, saw the accident from his car at the crossing. He and others jumped aboard the train to help and found people lying on the floor and slammed against seats.

Fellow witness Bisesi said many of the passengers tried to help one another.

"All the people getting off the train were bloodied and they were still trying to help each other," she said. "There were people who got on to the roof of the train and were trying to pull people out."

The accident occurred less than an hour before several county agencies were scheduled to participate in a mass casualty drill. As a result, emergency personnel were on the scene within minutes, said Bill Dean, an assistant chief with the Orange County Fire Authority.

Blakey said the freight train shoved the passenger train about 370 feet down the track.

The freight train's crew, an engineer and conductor, leaped from their locomotive just before the crash, said NTSB operations manager Ted Turpin.

NTSB investigators had retrieved the event recorders that provide mechanical data on the trains, such as its speed, braking maneuvers and use of horn at the time of the crash.

Richard Russack, a spokesman for Burlington Northern Santa Fe, said the freight train was en route from Los Angeles to Clovis, N.M., carrying 67 loaded containers. There were no hazardous materials aboard, she said. The train company owns and maintains the stretch of rail where the crash occurred.

Southbound Metrolink 809 was traveling from Riverside to San Juan Capistrano on a route that has 12 trains and 3,000 passenger boardings each day.