US investigators remove data recorders from derailed train

US investigators removed data recorders from a train that derailed and burst into flames over a bridge in south-western Pennsylvania as ethanol tanker carriages continued to burn today.

Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board also removed a section of track that was broken in two when 23 cars from the train’s midsection derailed late on Friday. No one was injured.

Robert Sumwalt, vice chairman of the safety board, said preliminary indications from the data recorders from three locomotives showed that the train was travelling 36 mph to 39 mph when it crashed. The speed limit is 45 mph along the rail bridge.

NTSB officials said they would gather maintenance records and interview witnesses, including crew members of the Norfolk Southern train.

The train – 89 tanker cars pulled by three locomotives – was travelling from Chicago to New Jersey when it derailed over the Beaver River in New Brighton, about 25 miles north-west of Pittsburgh.

At least nine of the cars leaked ethanol, also known as grain alcohol, and caught fire, and some were still burning. Officials couldn’t immediately give a count.

Ten safety board members will investigate mechanical issues, human factors, track and engineering issues, and the emergency response to the crash, Sumwalt said. Officials expected to interview the train’s two-man crew, its engineer and a conductor today.

“At this time, our investigation is just beginning,” Sumwalt said. “We want to collect information before we start making analytical statements.”

Authorities were determining whether to let the fire burn itself out or extinguish it, Sumwalt said.

About 50 people who live nearby spent Friday night in a makeshift shelter at a local school because of concerns of possible explosions. It was not clear when they would be able to return home.

State officials were monitoring the water and air quality, Sumwalt said. Downstream water users were notified of the incident as a precaution, state environmental department spokeswoman Betsy Mallison said.

Norfolk Southern spokesman Rudy Husband would not comment on the condition of the bridge before the accident, but said company officials inspect mainline tracks like the ones on the bridge at least twice a week.

The railway’s engineers will examine the bridge for structural soundness, but Sumwalt said they can’t do that until the burning cars are removed.

About 50 to 70 trains use the tracks daily. “We’re working on a plan to detour as many of those trains as we can,” Husband said.

The derailment was affecting Amtrak’s Capitol Limited, which makes one round trip daily between Washington DC and Chicago. Until that section of track reopens, each one-way trip will take about two hours longer because the train is being detoured onto some short line tracks between Pittsburgh and Cleveland, Amtrak spokesman Cliff Black said.