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Engineer 'Texted' Just Before Fatal Crash

Posted on: Thursday, 2 October 2008, 06:15 CDT

By Alan Levin

The engineer of a Los Angeles commuter train that collided head-on last month with a freight train sent a text message only seconds before the deadly impact, possibly as he passed through a red signal, investigators reported Wednesday.

The collision killed 25 and injured 135 people Sept. 12 at the start of rush hour on a Friday afternoon.

Engineer Robert Sanchez, who died in the crash, had sent and received dozens of text messages while on duty that day, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said.

His railroad, Metrolink, has a policy that does not allow train engineers to send or receive messages while operating trains.

The last message Sanchez sent was at 4:22:01 p.m. The NTSB estimates that the crash occurred 22 seconds later.

Sanchez had received a text message at 4:21:03, the NTSB said. It was around that time that his train was approaching a red signal indicating that the engineer was supposed to stop to let the freight train pass.

The signal light is about a quarter-mile from the curve where the crash happened.

Sanchez was supposed to radio the train's conductor to confirm that he saw the signal. NTSB member Kitty Higgins said last month that Sanchez didn't radio a confirmation.

If Sanchez was busy reading and writing messages, it could explain why the engineer made no attempt to hit the brakes before the impact. An engineer on the freight train slammed on his brakes, the NTSB said.

Sanchez received seven text messages and sent five during his afternoon shift that began at 3:03 p.m., the NTSB said.

He also received 21 text messages and sent 24 during a shift he worked that morning from 6:44 to 8:53, according to phone records obtained by the NTSB.

Investigators have interviewed two 14-year-old boys who told reporters they sent messages to Sanchez shortly before the crash. The content of the messages hasn't been released.

Investigators cautioned that the timeline of text messages and actions on the train could change as the investigation continues.

After a 2002 fatal train crash in Texas was blamed on an engineer's use of a cellphone, the NTSB called on the Federal Railroad Administration to ban the use of wireless communication devices by railroad operators. The FRA has said a rule is not necessary because most railroads prohibit their use.

The California Public Utilities Commission passed an emergency ban on electronic devices Sept. 18. (c) Copyright 2008 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

Source: USA TODAY

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