COLUMBIA, S.C. _ Federal investigators briefed the media Monday in their investigation of a train wreck that killed two people Sunday in Cayce, and provided more insight into the final moments prior to the crash.
NTSB chairman Robert Sumwalt said recorders were recovered undamaged from the Amtrak passenger train that struck an idle CSX freight train. The data from the recorders was successfully downloaded and showed:
_ that 7 seconds before the end of the recording, the train horn was activated for 3 seconds
_ the Amtrak train was traveling 56 mph on a stretch of rails that had an allowable track speed of 59 mph
_ 5 seconds before the end of the recording, the brakes were being applied
_ the throttle was moved from full throttle to the idle position
_ the engineer induced emergency braking
_ the train's speed reduced to 50 mph at the end of the recording, before a "head-to-head" crash between the trains
Two Amtrak employees died in the wreck and more than 100 others were injured.
Sumwalt refused to assess blame to either Amtrak or CSX at this stage of the investigation, which he said will go on at least through the end of the week. Four CSX employees have been interviewed.
The main point of interest at the news conference was over a rail switch that diverted the Amtrak train off the main track and into the tracks where the crash occurred.
"We're not saying (that one of the CSX employees made a mistake)," Sumwalt said of the switch that he described as being locked into position with a padlock. "We're investigating why it's the case that this switch was like this."
It was a hand-thrown switch that was checked by investigators, and Sumwalt said there were "no exceptions to the switch."
He did confirm that the manually operated switch was locked in a position that would take the Amtrak train off the main track. The thrust of the investigation will be to determine why the switch remained in that position.
"We don't know how long the switch was locked in that position," said Sumwalt, adding that the Amtrak engineer should be aware of all switch positions. "The engineer, part of his duties, is to look at these switch points and how they are lined. If something is different, they should notice that."
Sumwalt did confirm that the signaling system in that stretch of track was inoperative. He said it wasn't working because it was undergoing signal maintenance and upgrades.
Investigators confirmed that the track itself had not defects that caused the crash. The rest of the investigation will continue to focus on the inside and exterior of the cars of both the Amtrak and CSX trains.
"We're going to determine what happened but why it happened," said Sumwalt, adding that the removal of rail equipment to a CSX facility is under way, but will be slow and deliberate. "We're piecing together a timeline of everything that happened in this event."
When pushed to commit if there is a larger issue with Amtrak trains, with this the third fatal crash involving an Amtrak train this year, Sumwalt wouldn't bite.
"Are we willing to say there is a systemic issue with Amtrak? No, we're not willing to say there's a systemic issue," Sumwalt said.
Those who died in Sunday's wreck were identified as Michael Kempf, 54, of Savannah, Ga., and conductor Michael Cella, 36, of Orange Park, Fla.
