dust and light debris which greatly reduces the probability of visually detecting a sliding wheel. In darkness, sparks from the sliding wheels would be evident. Because it is not unusual that visual inspections fail to discover the sliding wheels, the wheel-slip indicator becomes even more important under these conditions.
The locomotive derailed before the engineer made the emergency brake application producing a heavy compressive force between the locomotive and the cars of the train The change in direction of the locomotive, which followed the turnout to the siding, combined with compressive forces, caused the cars to jackknife, and the couplers to break when forces exceeded the design strength. The momentum of the cars in the rear also contributed to the extent that in some cases, cars turned over onto their roofs before they settled back on their sides.
I. Critical Weakness in Railroad Car Crash Design
The windows on the underside of the over- turned cars were broken out either when the side of the car struck the ground, or by passengers thrown against the windows. Seven or eight large holes 28 inches high and 56 to 62 inches wide, depending on the design of the car, were opened in the side of each car when the window panes were broken. (See Figure 12.) This occurred as the car was sliding over the ground on its side. Several passengers. ejected through the windows, were trapped between the moving cars and the ground. A review of the 11 fatal injuries shows that six of these persons
were ejected cornpletely or partially through the =
broken windows. Three other passengers were either crushed in the end of a car or were ejected from the end as apparently they were moving from one car to another. One person was struck on the head by a crosstie which had been thrust through a broken window and another person apparently was thrown around the interior of the car and came. in contact with the car’s
28
fixtures. One person fatally injured by ejection still remains unidentified.
The ejection of passengers through windows of passenger cars during derailments has been addressed by the Safety Board in reports of several accidents. In the Franconia accident, which occurred near Alexandria, Virginia, on January 27, 1970,[1]three people were killed when they were ejected from a car through windows and were trapped between the oven turning car and the ground. In the accident near Tulsa, Oklahoma, on April 5, 1971,[2] the only fatalities occurred when two small girls were ejected through broken windows as a car turned on its side. In two accidents during 1971, the one at Tulsa and this accident, eight of the 13 persons killed were ejected through broken windows.
Passengers in the coaches were injured serious- ly when thrown against sharp edges of exposed metal plates or when struck or caught by revolving seats, or by falling baggage. Although pinpointing the exact structure which caused a particular injury was impossible, some general observations can be made. At least 23 survivors were treated for lacerations, most of which resulted from contacting broken side windows. Those passengers seated on the lower side when the car turned over received lacerations of the head, upper trunk, and arms. Those on the higher side of the car received lacerations of the lower extremities, indicating that they were thrown into the baggage racks with their feet and legs contacting the window area. The unsecured tables, chairs, and fixtures in the dining cars also caused injuries.
Some of the overturned cars were penetrated by foreign objects. Rails that were torn loose broke at the joints and penetrated two cars as
they slid on their sides over the ground. The use
- ↑ NTSB’s Report of Derailment of Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Potomac Railroad Train 10176 at Franconia, Virginia, on January 27, 1970, NTSB RAR-71-1
- ↑ NTSB's Report of Collision of a Motor Truck with an Atehison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Train near Collinsville, Oklahoma, on April 5, 1971, NTSB-RHR-72-1
