Posted on 10/02/2008 1:59:24 PM PDT by prolifefirst
LOS ANGELES — A commuter train engineer sent a text message from his cell phone 22 seconds before he collided with an oncoming freight train in an accident that killed him and 24 others and injured another 135 people last month, federal authorities said Wednesday.
Engineer Robert Sanchez sent the message at approximately 4:22 p.m., just before his Metrolink 111 train slammed into the Union Pacific freight train on Sept. 12 in Chatsworth, the National Transportation Safety Board said. He received a message about a minute earlier, the agency said.
The findings fill in key gaps in understanding what happened moments before the crash and also indicate Sanchez was conscious and feeling well enough to text—even though the practice is strictly prohibited by Metrolink.
In all, Sanchez received and sent 57 text messages while he was responsible for operating a train the day of the catastrophic collision.
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
Good thing I’m not running a train right now....
Texting is fine while driving just as long as the person texting is the only one killed.
Then, it’s an appropriate and justified result of an idiotic behavior.
I sure hope that engineer enjoyed his text message. It must have been a real good one if it was worth killing all of those people.
I’d reply to this, but I’m too busy texting.
I’ve never “texted” on my phone. I guess I’m old fashioned. I prefer to hear what the other party has to say instead of reading “imn yr phn txt u”
In my experience in Chicago trains only travel ONE WAY on tracks.
Leave it to the car capital of the world, to arrange their trains like this.
Diesel locomotives are super loud. You could never talk on a phone while operating one.
So if he hit the send button 22 seconds before impact, he was most likely typing like a mad man while blowing through both signals.
Ahh didn’t think about that....I’ve never been on a train for real.....That’s how old fashioned I am...
This sounds like the makings of a Johnny Cash Song
That’s not very old-fashioned at all.
His last message? “Holy Sh*t !”.
I had hoped the investigation would show him sending his last message at the Chatsworth station, it taking ten minutes or so to process through the email system.
Now it is said he pushed the send key 22 seconds before the crash.
One has to ask themselves what would be so important about an email, that it would supersede the responsibility to make sure the lives of 300 people were secured.
The volume of messages on the day in question was alarmingly high.
This guy was out of control.
There was another man on the train whose job was to stop the train in case it ran a red signal and the engineer did not initiate a stop. This man also failed to do his job.....
The LA system should have a fail-safe against engineers falling asleep, being stoned or drunk, having a heart attack, not paying attention, etc.
In Chicago, diesel trains only go one way on a track; if you are on the el and you pass a red light the train shuts off; if you lose consciousness the el trains stop.
Not covered in today’s article (but mentioned in articles the day after the crash) was the engineer Sanchez, a homosexual, was texting to a couple different 14-year old boys. But of course, a non-issue that the media would rather not dwell on.
Was he texting romantic notes to would-be boy pals? His last boyfriend hanged himself in this guys apartment. Not exactly the kind of stable personality needed to operate a passenger train...but God forbid anybody should mention this aspect of teh disaster, or release the messages.
I prefer boats with no motors?
See 17 and 18 for the “why,” and also why the messages will never be released. Not PC.
Text message was, “Here, hold my beer and watch this.”
"Say, call me crazy, but I could swear that's a. . . ."
It didn’t matter if he was texting or sitting on his ass reading. 22 seconds before the crash was not enough time to stop either train.
The question should be: What was he doing at the spot where he should have seen the red light signal?
FYI, most rail lines in the West only have one track as they were not built for commuter trains as in New York and Chicago. They were built as freight lines with sidings to handle oncoming traffic. Consider yourself lucky that Chicago is a centralized city and developed at a time when trains were a key means of transport.
It is only just now with the continued increase of foreign goods arriving in the ports of LA and Long Beach, that the Union Pacific is adding a second track to one of its main lines which parallels the Interstate 10 corridor just to handle freight. We have mile-long freight trains moving in both directions at all hours of the day and night here in the desert 120 miles east of LA.
I agree with this. The human quotient should be taken out of the process as much as can be facilitated.
This should never have happened though. This ‘meeting of trains’ was an everyday occurrence. That engineer got off easy IMO. He should have had to spend the rest of his life in prison, thinking about the people he had negatively impacted.
There's only one track through the mountain tunnels; shared by freight and passenger.
I doubt he got off easy.
In all, Sanchez received and sent 57 text messages while he was responsible for operating a train the day of the catastrophic collision.
The two line message had to do with the next station stop. The conductor was in another car and could not see the signal. The trains were on a blind curve with the freight just coming out of a tunnel. By the time the two trains saw each other only four seconds remained until they collided. The combined speed impact was 80 mph.
BTW, my company provides cell phones for employees as we are on call 24/7. But text messaging is forbidden and will earn a warning for the first offense.
He paid the ultimate price, but it bothers me he didn’t get time to reflect on what he had done. I’m sure a lot of folks will agree with you. That’s okay.
The Chicago commuter/freight lines used to have 5, 6, 7 or more tracks running right next to one another. This would be the case heading North, Norhtwest, West, Southwest and South (nothing Eastbound because of the lake). Now they have 3 or 2 running in all directions.
OMG!!!!!
yeah..usually@ north
camarillo
Passenger Trains > NTSB: Sanchez sent text msg 22 secs before crash
(membership required)
yeah..usually@ north
camarillo
Passenger Trains > NTSB: Sanchez sent text msg 22 secs before crash
(membership required)
“His sexual orientation does not enter into it.”
Please, you can check your political correctness at the door, at least in posts responding to me. Facts are, if this engineer was an ex-Army Ranger who was texting fellow members of a gun club, the subject matter of the texts would be all over the press. This guy was a fruit whose prior lover committed suicide because of an HIV diagnosis, and people around this guy knew he was depressed and irrational. But because of political correctness, nobody was allowed to speak up, and 25 people are dead because of it.
So the cause of the crash is because he was a homosexual?? Dude, that's just plain crazy. His lover committed suicide in February 2003.
He had a good record up until the date of the crash. But text messaging for whatever reason shouldn't be allowed for occupations which may put the public at risk.
Thanks, that seems like an important message.
At least now I know those people didn’t die in vain. It was for a good cause.
You just don’t get it. The point of the original post is about as spot-on as can be, that the media is choosing to ignore a story angle that obviously contributed to the engineer’s actions the day of the crash, and if the person was not a homo, the subject matter of the texts would have been an issue. So if some Catholic priest somehow caused this crash because he was texting to 14 year old boys, you don’t think the media would have made an issue of that? Gimme a break. Secondly, how do you know that this guy had a clean record up til then? From some government bureaucrat’s statement to the press? Probably some fruit covering for this fruit.
There was an early report from the kid who supposedly received the message—as I remember, it was something earth-shaking like: “Im @ Chatsworth”—I don’t remember the name of the place, but it was just him saying where the train was heading
I get it just fine. I'm done with you. Have a good evening.
Many people text because on many plans it is free and doesn’t waste minutes. My kids would their phones if it wasn’t for texting.
Well, he had just been at Chatsworth. Perhaps that’s what he did say. If this turns out to be the message, it will have been a very inconsequential message to have been that costly.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.