By Steve Neavling

The National Transportation Safety Board arrived at the scene of a fatal passenger train derailment that occurred Saturday in Montana.

NTSB will investigate what caused the derailment, which killed three people and injured more than 50 others. 

The Amtrak train, which was carrying 141 passengers and 16 crew members, was traveling from Seattle to Chicago when it derailed near Toplin, Montana. 

“The NTSB is launching a go-team to investigate Saturday’s derailment of Amtrak’s Empire Builder train near Joplin, Montana,” NTSB tweeted. “Team will be based in Great Falls, Montana.”

NTSB said it expects to hold a news briefing late Monday afternoon. 

In a statement, Amtrak CEO Bill Flynn said Sunday that the company was working with NTSB and others involved in the investigation.

“We share the sense of urgency to understand why the accident happened; however, until the investigation is complete, we will not comment further on the accident itself,” Flynn said.

“The NTSB will identify the cause or causes of this accident, and Amtrak commits to taking appropriate actions to prevent a similar accident in the future.”

The derailment was the first fatal accident involving Amtrak since a passenger and freight train collided in 2018, killing two the company’s employees.

By Steve Neavling
Ticklethewire.com

The limo crash that killed 20 people in New York on Saturday was the “deadliest transportation-related accident” in the nation since 2009, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.

NTSB is investigating what caused the limo to crash into another vehicle and pedestrians near Albany.

Killed in the crash were 18 people in the limo and two bystanders.

The limo was packed with people from a wedding party.

“This is one of the biggest losses of life that we’ve seen in a long, long time,” NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt told local NBC affiliate WNYT. 

For reasons that aren’t yet clear, the limo failed to stop at an intersection and careened into the parking lot of an Apple Barrel store and café.

“My heart breaks for the 20 people who lost their lives in this horrific accident,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said in a statement. “I commend the first responders who arrived on the scene and worked through the night to help. State police are working with federal and local authorities to investigate the crash, and I have directed state agencies to provide every resource necessary to aid in this investigation and determine what led to this tragedy.”

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

A deadly mid-air collision between two planes in San Diego in 2015 was the fault of pilots and air traffic controllers, the National Transportation Safety Board reports.

The new report lays most of the blame on air traffic controllers, 10 News reports. 

Moments before the collision between a Sabreliner jet and a Cessna, which killed five people, an air traffic control trainee was overwhelmed while getting on-the-job training.

A controller is limited to handling seven aircraft, but on this day, the workload was nine. NTSB concluded that the controller told the pilot of the Cessna to make a 360-degree turn, which resulted in the collision.

Some of the blame also belongs to the pilots, who could have avoided the collision, the report states. The pilots should have shown more “situational awareness,” which would have enabled them to “take evasive action in time to avert the collision.”

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By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

The National Transportation Safety Board is now acknowledging that children would be safer on school buses if they had seat belts.

Safety officials previously said seat belts aren’t necessary because the seats are tall, strong and closed spaced.

But after reviewing several deadly bus accidents, NTSB says the compartmentalization of the seats is no longer sufficient to protect children during side-impact collisions and rollovers, FOX23 reports. 

NTSB said seat belts would decrease the chances of injuries and could even save lives.

NTSB is recommending that school use three-point seat belts when buy new buses for students.

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The bus driver, Johnthony Walker, was arrested.

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating a deadly school bus crash in Chattanooga after authorities said the driver was going “well above” the posted speed limit of 30 mph.

The crash killed five elementary school children on Monday, and the bus driver was arrested and charged with five counts of vehicular homicide, reckless endangerment and reckless driving, WBIR reports. 

Johnthony Walker, 24, of Chattanooga only had his commercial license for about seven months, according to the NTSB.

Twelve students remained in the hospital a day after the crash.

Police said the driver was speeding on a narrow, winding road.

The NTSB is expected to be in Chattanooga for 7 to 10 days.

New Jersey Transit train, via Wikipedia

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

The engineer of the commuter train that crashed into a New Jersey rail station, killing a woman, suffered from a form of sleep apnea, according to a report by the National Transportation Safety Board.

Thomas Gallagher, 48, said he has no memory of the crash at the Hoboken station on Sept. 29 as the train was traveling twice the 10 mph speed limit, The New York Daily News reports.

Gallagher wasn’t diagnosed with sleep apnea until later the crash.

The crashed injured 108 on the train and platform.

“My client was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea just recently, during an examination by an expert that I arranged after the accident,” Gallagher’s attorney, Jack Arseneault, told WCBS-TV in a statement. “Those results were forwarded to the NTSB on Oct. 31.

An MTA bus

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating a deadly crash in Baltimore that occurred after a school bus veered into oncoming traffic and struck a Maryland Transit Administration bus.

Six people were killed and 10 were injured Tuesday morning, the Baltimore Sun reports.

Four passengers and both bus drivers were killed in the crash, and an additional two passengers were in critical condition.

The school bus was not carrying any students.

“It literally looks like a bomb exploded in the bus,” police spokesman T.J. Smith said. “It’s catastrophic damage.”

Investigators are trying to determine what caused the bus driver to veer into the opposite lane. They plan to interview a school bus aide who sustained minor injuries in the crash.

The school bus driver was a 67-year-old man. 

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Desert Hot Springs, Calif.

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

A bus that crashed into a semi-truck near Palm Springs, killing 13 people Sunday, was using tires that were too worn by industry standards, federal official announced Tuesday.

It’s not yet clear whether the tires contributed to the crash, the Orange County Register reports. 

Because of the tires, the bus would have been “placed out of service” if it had been inspected, said board member Earl Weener said at a news conference.

Four of the eight tires lacked enough tread to comply with the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance.

Investigators also are reviewing the bus’s braking system.

The 59-year-old driver was among 13 killed.

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