WASHINGTON — An engineer’s failure to operate his train in accordance with restricted speed rules, and his prohibited use of a personal electronic device, were the probable cause of a fatal collision with track maintenance equipment on the Alabama Export Railroad in November 2020, the National Transportation Safety Board said in an accident report issued Monday.
In the Nov. 17, 2020 accident in Prichard, Ala., just outside Mobile, a Canadian National train being operated by an Alabama Export engineer struck on-track equipment belonging to Continental Rail Inc., including a flatbed truck with a crane and a backhoe designed to operate on rails. One of the contract maintenance workers was killed and three others were injured.
Contributing to the accident, according to the report, was Alabama Export’s track protection for the maintenance workers, which did not meet minimum federal safety standards.
The NTSB’s investigation found the train was moving at 19 mph at the time of the collision, in throttle position 2, and that the brakes were never applied. Cellphone records and the locomotive’s inward-facing camera showed the engineer was using a personal electronic device when he entered the cab; while he partially covered the inward-facing camera with his hat, investigators were able to see he was engaged in a video conversation on his device throughout the trip, including at the time of the collision.
The investigation also found that while the maintenance workers believed they were protected by track authority — with movements controlled by the Alabama Export roadway worker-in-charge — they were in non-controlled track, and therefore movements were governed by yard-limit rules rather than by a dispatcher or any other controller.
As a result of the accident, the Alabama Export Railroad made more than 25 managerial and operational changes, including updates to its safety plan to address on-track safety, and will no longer use contractors for track maintenance. The engineer at the time of the accident lost his engineer certification and was terminated.
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