NTSB Advisory
National Transportation Safety Board
Washington, DC 20594
October 23, 2007
NTSB TO RELEASE FACTUAL REPORTS ON TWO WASHINGTON, DC SUBWAY ACCIDENTS
As part of its continuing investigations into two metrorail accidents the National Transportation Safety Board will open public dockets and release a series of factual reports on Thursday, October 25, 2007, at 11:00 am.
The two docket items are:
* About 10:16 a.m. on Sunday, May 14, 2006, a southbound
Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA)
Metrorail Red Line subway train struck and fatally
injured a Metrorail employee as the train was about to
enter the Dupont Circle station in Washington, D.C.
The fatally injured employee was an automatic train
control system mechanic who had been working with two
other mechanics at the interlocking just north of the
Dupont Circle station. All three mechanics moved
between the two main tracks north of the interlocking
in order to stay clear of a northbound train that was
leaving the station and the southbound accident train
that was arriving. The two non-injured mechanics
remained in the clear between the two trains as they
passed. According to signal system data logs, the
southbound train was moving about 40 mph as it
traveled past the interlocking.
* About 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, November 30, 2006, a northbound Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) Metrorail Yellow Line subway train struck and fatally injured two Metrorail employees who were performing a routine walking inspection along an outdoor section of main track. The accident occurred near the Eisenhower Avenue Metrorail station in Alexandria, Virginia as the northbound train was traveling along track normally used for southbound traffic.
The information being released is factual in nature and
does not provide any analysis. It will include investigative
factual reports, interview transcripts, and other documents
from the investigation. Additional material will be added to
the dockets as it becomes available. Analysis of the
accidents, along with conclusions and a determination of
probable cause, will come at a later date when the final
reports on the investigations are completed.
For news media representatives, a CD-ROM containing the docket material will be available from the Office of Public Affairs, NTSB Headquarters (6th floor), 490 L'Enfant Plaza, S.W., Washington, D.C. beginning at 11:00 a.m., Thursday, October 25, 2007. Docket material also can be obtained from the NTSB's Public Inquiries Branch by calling (202) 314- 6551, or from General Microfilm, Inc., (304) 267-5830.
This will be a document release only; no interviews will
be conducted.
Media Contact: Keith Holloway, (202) 314-6100
hollowk@ntsb.gov