Oct 1, 2008 8:55 pm US/Central
Train Engineer Sent Text Seconds Before L.A. Crash
LOS ANGELES (CBS News) ―
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A bouquet of flowers and a balloon stands on the passenger platform as a Metrolink commuter train passes the Moorpark Metrolink train station, just south of the site of the Sept. 12 head-on collision between two trains.
David McNew/Getty Images
A Metrolink engineer sent a cell phone text message 22 seconds before his commuter train crashed head-on into freight train last month, killing 25 people, federal investigators said Wednesday.
Cell phone records of Robert Sanchez, who was among the dead, show he received a text message a minute and 20 seconds before the crash, and sent one about a minute later, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a press release.
CBS Station KCAL correspondent Kristine Lazar reported exclusively days after the crash that one minute before the collision, a teenager received a text message on his cell phone from the engineer.
When asked by KCAL to comment on the report, Metrolink spokesperson Denise Tyrell said, "I can't believe someone could be texting while driving a train."
KCAL said the teen was among a group of youths who befriended the engineer and asked him questions about his work.
Investigators are looking into why Sanchez ran through a red signal and collided with a Union Pacific train Sept. 12 in the San Fernando Valley community of Chatsworth. It was the nation's deadliest rail crash since 1993.
The records obtained from Sanchez's cell phone provider also showed that he sent 24 text messages and received 21 messages over a two-hour period during his morning shift. During his afternoon shift, he received seven and sent five messages.
Sanchez sent his last text message at 4:22:01 p.m. According to the freight train's onboard recorder, the accident occurred at 4:22:23 p.m.
NTSB investigators were continuing to correlate times from Sanchez's cell phone, the train recorders and data from the railroad signal system.
"I am pleased with the progress of this major investigation to date," acting NTSB Chairman Mark V. Rosenker said in a statement. "We are continuing to pursue many avenues of inquiry to find what caused this accident and what can be done to prevent such a tragedy in the future."
NTSB spokesman Terry Williams declined to release information about who was exchanging text messages with Sanchez.
In the days after the crash, several teenage train enthusiasts told a reporter Sanchez sent them a text message just before the collision. Federal investigators spurred by the media reports interviewed two 14-year-old boys, who they said cooperated in the investigation and provided their cell phone data.
The collision, which also injured more than 130 people, occurred on a horseshoe-shaped section of track. Investigators say the two trains were in sight of each other only for a few seconds before the crash. The freight engineer was able to apply brakes but the brakes were never applied on the Metrolink train.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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