NS Engineer charged in Derailment at Keating Summit, PA

Trains Magazine General Discussion
1

"Criminal charges have been filed against the engineer of a speeding freight train that derailed going down a steep, treacherous stretch of track off Keating Summit in rural McKean County in June, resulting in a chemical spill that polluted 30 miles of pristine streams and killed thousands of fish.

“The engineer, Michael Seifert, 45, tested positive for opiates and an anti-anxiety drug following the accident, according the criminal complaint filed this afternoon and the official Federal Railroad Administration report.”

http://www.postgazette.com/pg/07082/772050-100.stm

Dave

2

Very tragic.

The anti-anxiety medication (which one of my relatives uses) could pass if it’s not the version that makes one drowsy. Most transportation companies require notification if an employee must take medication…but OPIATES while operating locomotives? Scary!

I hope there’s more to this story. I worked in transportation for 15 years. On several occasions employees going through medical problems tested positive for certain substances that could potentially be abused. But usually these guys were trying to not miss work. Of course they felt they were under control and not placing anyone in danger. Then, when an accident occurs, the media, governement, and the lawyers come a-knocking.

The union had to struggle with the issue of defending the person accused of substance abuse duing management/union hearings. Never a pleasant situation. If the employee was “outright” abusing, and not under doctor’s orders…he pretty much was up the river.

3

What in the world was the conductor doing while the train was apparently out of control! He should have taken control of the situation. Does anyone know if he was fired as well, I didn’t see him mentioned in all the reports I read?

4

Probably hanging on for dear life. He was also dismissed, I believe, also read somewhere he had eight months service, I don’t know if that means he’d been on his own for eight months or if he had eight months total on the railroad.

5

The amount of time between the train reaching 20 mph where they should have at least made a full service brake application to stop the train, and about 23 mph where nothing would stop the train, is fairly short. With only 8 months as a Conductor, he probably wasn’t confident enough to override the Engineer, and there was no time to hesitate. The Conductor was also terminated by NS, but it doesn’t look like the Prosecutor is going to charge him.

6

“Recklessly endangering another person…” sounds a lot like they are charging him with endangering the conductor…kinda silly, kinda not if that’s all you can come up with.

But, and this is a big but…the part of risking a catastrophe might stick, especially if the “opiates” turn out to be coke.

As for the “Benzos” so quaintly put…as long as the superintendent is made aware of an employee using a prescribed drug to treat a recognized illness, and that drug is FDA approved for use in the environment the employee works in, there should be no problem.

Lots of railroaders, and a lot of everyday folks use the stuff with no ill effects.

If, on the other hand, he had boosted some illegal meds, taken something without a prescription, on top of a little nose candy, then he should be run off permanently and if the local DA wants to press charges, then the engineer has no recourse.

I don’t like working around anyone who is under the influence, be it booze or drugs.

As for the conductor, if he has 8 months total, then subtract 3 months training to get over his derail…maybe 2 months as a brakeman or switchman, which leaves 3 months as a certified conductor.

If the hogger was a lot “older” then the conductor, I can see where the conductor would not realize how much trouble they were in until it was too late to do anything but ride out the pucker time and hope you live through it.

All of this is based on a news release and a newspaper report, of course, so until the FRA releases its findings, we are just guessing.

And remember, they guy is innocent until proven guilty, so…

7

Mountain grades are unforgiving and sometimes take lives when a fool trys to do something stupid.

I think that the Conductor found himself in a bad situation but it is the engineer that runs the choo choo. Whatever happened at that moment in time just prior to the accident is not worth the speculation. Did the conductor have the moxie to recognize the engineer as a problem? Or to actually make a decision and DO something about it? I dont know.

We could have a situation where a young conductor who might be just a wee pup hiding out on the walkway away from the big bad, mean 70 year old engineer who was driving trains before Genesis and a personality to match. That is not a good team match, you would need a bigger badder conductor who at least would recognize that the engineer is kaput and needs to officially actually make decisions that probably stops the train, changes the crew throws a HUGE wrench into the railroad’s plan for the day among other things.

I dont know what paralyzed the conductor first… the idea of calling off the engineer because he is giggling in drugged-land or the idea of having to ride the train and hope nothing happened and no one knows anything in time to actually do anything about it.

I rather the wrench and a quiet room (Preferably soundproof) where the issues can be hammered out with arm waving, yelling and tossing of rulebooks, doctors forms, test sheets and other tools of the trade related to problem workers. Instead of wrecking the train and cleaning up the mess.

It’s too bad and I see it as a waste. Now we need a new Conductor, Engineer and find the root cause that allowed this to happen in the first place.

I dont see enough to convict anyone on anything. Innocent until the official final report is quietly released after the wheels and gears of our wonderful government grinds it out a year or so later.

8

The article say’s the train was running over 70 mph at the time, that’s just out of control!

But if the conductor only had 8 month’s experience, then I agree with everyone else, he was just to “new” to know better.

9

It says he was speeding several times … I’m thinking the event recorder gave that up . It sounds like he may have had one of those trains that gonna beat the hell out you no matter what you do , anyone had a bad train ??

10

Although my heart goes out to the conductor, I think there are two bigger victims: NS and the fish. Through the doctrine of Respondeat Superior, NS could be in a pretty big problem.

There have been several class actions filed relating to fish kills of this type. NS is probably looking at 10-20 million for this one, to say nothing of EPA fines and reclamation fees.

Ouch.

Gabe