Amtrak has had four lethal train crashes since December, the latest of which occurred on Sunday in Cayce, SC. Three miles from our Columbia office, Amtrak Train 91—a passenger train—collided with a stationary, unoccupied freight train at approximately 56 miles per hour. The train’s engineer, Michael Kempf, and conductor, Michael Cella, were killed in the crash, and over 100 passengers and crew members were transported to local hospitals for treatment. As of Wednesday evening, one hospitalized victim remained in serious condition, while the remaining injured passengers were either in good condition or discharged from emergent treatment. That nearly all of those aboard the train suffered only minor injury seems nothing short of miraculous, and out of this tragedy I want to commend the first responders and local law enforcement for their exemplary care and coordination in ensuring that those injured received the care they needed. That said, the road to emotional recovery from this devastating collision undoubtedly be a long one, especially for the families of Mr. Kempf and Mr. Cella.
The National Transportation Safety Board investigation, though ongoing, has shed light on how this senseless and unnecessary tragedy unfolded. The problem appears to be two-fold: first, CSX—which operates the tracks where this incident occurred—after pulling its freight train from the main line to a side track, failed to redirect a switch to keep traffic traveling along the main track. CSX crew members reported having realigned the switch, but the investigation has revealed that the switch was padlocked into the position of steering oncoming trains off of the main line and onto the side track where the freight train was parked. At the same time, CSX’s trackside signaling system—a system that would have alerted Mr. Cella to the misaligned switch—was temporarily inoperable. Reportedly, the system was down for maintenance while CSX worked to incorporate an automated safety mechanism called positive train control, or PTC, into the system. The dark irony is that PTC is designed to prevent accidents such as this one and, had it already been installed, this disaster almost certainly would have been averted.
Having over 40 years of experience as a personal injury lawyer, I am no stranger to tragedy. Still, the loss of lives that could—and should—have been easily prevented is something I will never grow used to. This catastrophe is, to say the least, heartbreaking, and my thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and their families.
