Amtrak has reached a settlement with the engineer who was seriously injured in the fatal 2017 derailment of Cascades train No. 501 on a curve in DuPont, Wash.
In a lawsuit filed against Amtrak, engineer Steven Brown argued that he was not properly trained.
The settlement, compensation for pain and suffering related to the accident, will ensure that Brown will be taken care of for life, his lawyer told the Seattle Times. “We think that it substantiates that it is Amtrak’s fault and not Mr. Brown’s,” said the lawyer, Fred Bremseth.
Brown was at the throttle of the Amtrak train making its first revenue trip over the Port Defiance bypass, an inland route that takes Amtrak traffic off the coastal route shared with BNSF Railway freights. The train was moving at 80 mph when it derailed going through a 30-mph curve on Dec. 18, 2017.
The wreck killed three passengers and injured 65 other people. The National Transportation Safety Board concluded that Amtrak played a major role in contributing factors to the wreck. The safety board’s chairman said the engineer was “set up to fail” due to mistakes that included inadequate practice runs and the lack of positive train control on the route.
Amtrak declined to comment.
Brown, who was fired for violating safety rules, suffered broken ribs, a broken jaw and cheekbone, compressed vertebrae, and elbow damage requiring partial replacement. In a 2021 interview with the newspaper, Brown said he relives the accident “all day” during his waking hours.
Steven Brown was not the primary engineer on call for Amtrak that day. The original engineer called off sick and Steven was second on the call list. He actually crawled out of bed when the call came in.
Sound Transit was responsible for all safety compliance for the route and had written no materials whatsoever at the time of the accident. The Director of Safety for Sound Transit was a career employee with no safety training or experience. He was given the role due to his “life of service” with the agency.
Mr. Brown had never worked with this engine type before and had not received the union mandated orientation and training for the route.
A substitute Amtrak conductor was standing in the control area with the engineer and texting & talking on his cell phone. This substitute was not trained nor familiar with the trainset in use. Cell phone use is prohibited in the cab. This was found to be distracting Mr. Brown’s work.
Hindsight is always 20/20, but Mr Brown should have followed his union rules and refused to operate the consist. There was a large gaggle of press and political dignitaries present when Mr. Brown arrived and no doubt was feeling some peer pressure to not let his decisions impact the event (as they did later)
While Amtrak will pay because they are the largest pocket, the blame is quite large and extensive and covers multiple entities. In this case expedience to please some politicos outweighed some levels of sense.
It’s always someone else’s fault isn’t it; it’s never your own. I do not know any particulars so forgive me if I say something that doesn’t make sense. When I am the pilot in command and get in the cockpit, I am the FINAL authority for the safe operation of the aircraft. As a lot of aviation standards and practices seem to mimic railroading, I feel the engineer has final authority whether the train moves or not (especially when only one person is in the cab). I can try to deflect all the reasons why I failed in my task and an accident resulted; but I am still responsible. I don’t like “It’s not my fault” to escape responsibility. You can always decline and maybe lose your job, or you can do what you know you are not capable of, even though you may be technically qualified, and hope you get lucky. If you are not; don’t worry, some lawyer will get you off citing it wasn’t your fault…it was somebody else’s (just like Lac-Mégantic)
Plenty of blame to go around beginning with the lack of adequate training to familiarize crew with the road. Should have been both RR and Amtrak management on hand.
Immediately prior to leaving crew and management should have held a safety conference (away from others) to go over things including that severe speed restriction.
Conductor is to blame. He is in charge of the train and should have reminded the engineer over the radio 5-10 minutes in advance of that slow order considering its very restrictive nature.
Engineer is to blame for not going over the situation with conductor but mostly for just not being aware of the slow order location. Have the mileage written down and right in front of him. Again, considering its very serious nature. Make notation of what time it would be.
Dispatcher (and Chief) is not blame free either. He too could have cautioned the crew.
Better safe than sorry. (Old saying. Still valid).
What happened is one of the reasons properly setup PTC or the like is so important. Beyond that, I generally like Amtrak, but they didn’t handle this new line well. Ignoring saving some money in terms of reducing the curve, blaming the train operator on the very first revenue run for not realizing he didn’t have enough training doesn’t work. It’s the supervision that should have known and dealt with it.
Systems to prevent accidents like this are not new. But they’ve been bypassed, not properly programmed, and more. It should not have been possible for this to happen.
This is an argument to use A.I. to control trains. I’m not sure what kind of training is required to obey that round sign with a 30 in the center. You can’t train basic common sense.
I will add unfortunately, lots of blame to go around, a comedy of errors as they say. It is an experience I never want to experience again. I am lucky I survived without debilitating injuries. My heart goes out to the families of the deceased and those with lasting physical or mental injuries,
If I recall correctly in a local news article, the road foreman overslept. The article I vaguely remember was maybe a year or so ago.
No Gerald it’s not just you; why didn’t he refuse to take the train because of not being qualified? He should have demanded a road foreman be with him on that first trip, something that should have happened regardless of other needs.
I’m going to disagree with everyone…just because he didn’t have adequate training(notice he didn’t say none) is no excuse. The speed limit was posted, he chose to ignore it. As for reliving the images long after the fact…maybe I’m cold hearted, but I witnessed a head-on collision in which the entire roof of the other car was flattened, and the pickup truck that collided with the vehicle was bent at a 30 degree angle at the junction of the cab and motor housing. I knew the driver of the car was DOA, but I don’t relive the accident nor was I traumatized, it’s part of life, if happens…even if it was preventable(the driver of the car was presumably leaning down to pick up something from the floor is what the CHP stated) it happened, don’t have a time machine to go back and fix it. Just move on and forget about it…but that might just be me.
Theyalso didn’t build a proper bridge over the Interstate for fast passenger trains; instead settling for 30 mph curves.
This reinforces my belief that he was put into a situation without being given the necessary training on the route by incompetent supervisory personnel (management) that were unwilling to resist pressures to open the route. He unfortunately, did not know what he did not know and he also failed to tell his bosses that he did not know the route and now has to bear the pain of what he did. Sad. Whether anyone in Amtrak’s HQ learns from this is to be seen.
IMHO this was a legitimate claim, reading the full investigation and accident report the only CASCADE was the domino inept lack credible management by multiple government agencies
A long-ago boss of mine was 25′ up in a bucket truck doing utility work on a hairpin curve, blocking one lane of a two-lane road. He had cones out. But no flagger. He heard a crash below and got to see two people die in a head-on collision. Ron was never the same after that. The engineer of that train is to be pitied. Imagine beding in the position to prevent the deaths of others, yet not given the tools to do so?