May 10, 2009 6:47 pm US/Eastern
NTSB Releases Details Of Friday Trolley Crash
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
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Some 49 people, including the operator, were hurt in the violent wreck that caused both trains to derail.
WBZ
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This photo was taken from Aiden Quinn's MySpace page.
MySpace
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This photo shows damage from inside the train where the driver was sitting.
Jeff Miller/WBZ
The Green Line is rolling again between Government Center and Park Street after service was restored around 5 a.m.
It was Friday night when
one train slammed into another that was stopped -- waiting to enter the Park Street station.
About 50 people, including the operator, were injured -- no one seriously.
NTSB investigators say the train had not stopped at a red signal. "Then the train encountered a yellow signal and a red signal," explained Debbie Hersman of the NTSB. "The point of collision occurred 80 feet past the red signal."
The striking train was going 25 miles-per-hour at impact -- hitting the stopped train hard enough that it lurched at a speed of almost 10 miles per hour. "When it was struck by the striking train, it moved 31 feet and it achieved a maximum speed of 9.6 miles-per-hour when it was hit," said Hersman.
Hersman says they did not find any mechanical problems with either train or the tracks... and the signals were all working properly.
Aidan Quinn, 24, of Attleboro, the operator of the striking train, told police he was
sending a text message at the time of the crash.
The NTSB plans to interview the driver and has requested all cell phone records.
The MBTA had already banned operators from using cell phones, but MBTA General Manager Dan Grabauskas said Saturday the temptation was obviously too great for some.
Grabauskas said he spoke with the MBTA driver's union late Friday night about
banning operators from having cell phones on their persons when they are on duty. He said he wasn't going "to wait for someone to die" to make a change, which he said will hopefully be by the end of the week.
MacDougall backed the change and said the new rule will be effective within the next 12 to 24 hours.
It typically takes a year for the NTSB to determine a cause for crashes.
Meanwhile, the collision will be expensive.
The NTSB reported that three of the four trolleys involved are totaled – costing $9.5 million in damage.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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