Tough position to be in.
Posted on 09/15/2008 8:35:32 AM PDT by BenLurkin
LOS ANGELES Metrolink's top spokesperson quit her job Monday in a dispute over how facts about Friday's deadly train crash were made public.
Denise Tyrrell said she had spoken with Metrolink's chief executive and was authorized to release the basic facts of the investigation before announcing that the Metrolink driver ran a red light on the line shared by Union Pacific freighters.
That mistake apparently led to the head-on collision, something a National Transportation Safety Board investigation confirmed, Tyrrell told reporters early Monday.
"I believe that the public should know the facts as early as possible," she said.
The Metrolink engineer, identified by friends as 46-year-old Robert Sanchez, may have been text-messaging some teenage train enthusiasts just before the collision that killed 25 people.
Investigators are seeking cellular telephone records to confirm that account.
In a statement e-mailed to the news media early today, Tyrrell said: "As a result of actions taken during a closed session Metrolink board of directors meeting yesterday afternoon, as well as subsequent press statements by Metrolink board members concerning me -- I have resigned my position as spokesperson for Metrolink."
A union spokesman told the Los Angeles Times it was premature to blame the engineer for the crash.
He had worked for Amtrak and more recently for a private company, Veolia Transportation, which provides Metrolink with engineers
Odd.
Seems like the UNION condemned and pressured Metrolink into killing the spokeswoman’s job, rather than the engineer’s job.
A union spokesman told the Los Angeles Times it was premature to blame the engineer for the crash.
Ummmm, he was at the “wheel” and NOT paying attention.
Good for her. It’s no surprise, though, that executives would give first thought to covering their a$$es instead of dealing promptly with keeping the public trust. And, of course, nothing will be done about it because executives in any organization don’t have to play by the same rules everyone else does.
Tough position to be in.
Ummmm
There are also LOCAL first hand reports here, that the box nearby was out of commission 30 mins. prior to the crash with city truck at the location. That has not been on the MSM though it has been reported by the witnesses who saw the workers and the truck. Just FYI
There is never just ONE reason for something like this.
Prayers for all involved.
That would suggest that MAYBE the signal light was completely out. This was apparently an engineer who ran this route regularly, so he would certainly know where the signal lights were, even without keeping a close eye out. If a signal light is completely dark, vs. red, yellow, or green, there shouldn’t be a second’s hesitation to respond as if it was red.
That and the union will deny the guilt of its members even after their death. Look for the "We need a safer technology, the company is just trying to blame the union member while they were saving money" mantra for the union.
Meanwhile the company executives are looking for hiding places. It looks like they will have to shoulder the blame for a careless and reckless employee. Individual CYA efforts are going on like crazy just now.
A much lower liability profile...
Makes total sense to me.
It's as if getting to run them is some sort of reparations.
Can’t kill the engineer’s job. He’s dead.
First rule of CYA: Always blame the dead guy.
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