3 missing, 1 injured in head-on train collision in Texas

[TexasTowelie]

Source: AP

DALLAS (AP) — Three crew members were missing and one was hurt Tuesday after a head-on train collision in the Texas Panhandle that caused several box cars to erupt in flames and led authorities to evacuate residents in the area.

The two BNSF Railway freight trains were on the same track when they collided near the town of Panhandle, about 25 miles northeast of Amarillo. Each train carried two crew members; one man jumped before the collision, according to BNSF spokesman Joe Faust.

That man was in stable condition at an Amarillo hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening, said Sgt. Dan Buesing of the Texas Department of Public Safety. His identity wasn't available. Because the fire was still burning Tuesday night, crews had not been able to search the wreckage for the three missing crew members, Buesing said, adding that crews are still pouring water on the fire.

Freight cars and containers were derailed and strewn for about 400 yards from the collision site, Buesing said. As nightfall approached, floodlights were being brought in as efforts to quell the flames and search for the missing crew members was expected to continue well into the night, he said.

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n this photo provided by Billy B. Brown, two freight trains are on fire Tuesday, June 28, 2016, after they collided and derailed near Panhandle, Texas. Texas Department of Public Safety Lt. Bryan Witt says the accident occurred Tuesday morning near the town of Panhandle, about 25 miles northeast of Amarillo. No injuries have been reported. (Billy B. Brown via AP)

[Lance Bass esquire]

1. Damn...no bueno..prayers to those involved n/t

[MissB]

2. Holy crap. He jumped?

Damned good decision. Wonder where he ended up landing - doesn't look like jumping would really put him too far from the wreckage.

He jumped

[TexasTowelie]

4. My brother used to hop the train on occasion when leaving town to go shoot his gun a few miles out

of town. One time he did it and the train didn't slow down where he normally expected it to so he and his friend jumped off. His friend rolled down the embankment and landed in the grass with little impact (teenagers are pretty tough after all). However, my brother wasn't as fortunate--when he jumped he landed on his back on top of some cactus, then rolled into a barbed-wire fence. Obviously my brother isn't the brightest and he was sore for the next couple of weeks.

I'm guessing that the crewman had a good clue that was a collision was going to occur at least a half-mile away or more and since it normally takes a train about a mile to stop if there are any cars behind it (which he wouldn't be able to see), the best option is jump. The Panhandle is pretty flat terrain and mostly prairie grasses or dirt so as long as he was one-half to one-quarter mile away it was the correct decision.

[Brickbat]

7. It's a terrible decision to have to make, and sometimes can end up worse than staying on.

[czarjak]

3. Hey, Warren....

There's technology available that can prevent this kind of thing. Too expensive?

[Igel]

10. Probably not working.

Perhaps overriden. Perhaps the human technology involved was napping or high or drunk. Or just taking a leak.

Perhaps the switch that was supposed to steer the trains onto different tracks didn't work. Or the sensors failed. Or something else simple, cheap to fix but hard to spot. Lots of RR in Texas, much of it in the middle of nowhere.

The problem with fool proof technology is that the fools keep getting smarter. Flynn effect and all that.

Then again, it's like the bit about having enough monkeys randomly hitting keyboards. At some point, given time, they'd produce a Shakespeare play. No matter how good your fool proofing, given enough attempts to get past it somebody will ... and it just takes once.

Surprised we don't have more collisions.

Now, imagine if those were on high-speed rail lines ...

[pansypoo53219]

5. preventing it is too expensive. if this had happened in that nearby town, how much do they LOSE?

[whistler162]

6. Sounds like a failure of technology and

the rail traffic controllers.

[bluejaylane]

8. All trains are equipped with GPS

which transmits the train's location to a central mapping board. The technology is so simple that it boggles my mind that the railroads can't create a simple system for keeping trains apart. There are thousands of aircraft in the sky operating in three dimensions successfully. The failure of the railroad system to control their rolling stock is directly a result of their greed. Same reason derailments occur. Lack of maintenance equals greater profits.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

9. They are? Cite please. NT