Railroad Accident Report
Collision of Burlington Northern
Santa Fe Freight Train With
Metrolink Passenger Train
Placentia, California
April 23, 2002
NTSB Number RAR-03/04
NTIS Number PB2003-916304
PDF Document(856 KB)
Executive Summary: On Tuesday, April 23, 2002, about 8:10 a.m. Pacific daylight time, eastbound Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway freight train PLACCLO3-22 collided head on with standing westbound Southern California Regional Rail Authority passenger train 809 on the No. 2 track at Control Point Atwood in Placentia, California. Emergency response agencies reported that 162 persons were transported to local hospitals. There were two fatalities. Damage was estimated at $4.6 million.
The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause
of the April 23, 2002, collision of a Burlington Northern Santa Fe freight train
and a Metrolink commuter train in Placentia, California, was the freight train
crews inattentiveness to the signal system and their failure to observe,
recognize, and act on the approach signal at milepost 42.31. Contributing to
the accident was the absence of a positive train control system that would have
automatically stopped the freight train short of the stop signal and thus prevented
the collision.
The safety issues identified during this accident investigation are as follows:
As a result of this accident investigation, the National Transportation Safety
Board makes safety recommendations to the Federal Railroad Administration, the
Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Company, and the Association of American
Railroads. The Board also reiterates a previously issued safety recommendation
to the Federal Railroad Administration.