Unsuck DC Metro: NTSB's Animation of 6/22 Crash

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

NTSB's Animation of 6/22 Crash

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@poptdc · 765 weeks ago

WOW. And ANY WMATA customer who thinks things have improved since then and that this couldn't happen again is flat out LYING to themselves.

It may not be automatic control that fails next time but WMATA is still an accident waiting to happen and the NTSB confirmed that sentiment today.

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WMATA Black Black · 765 weeks ago

@ poptdc Actually the automatic control still tried to protect the train, if you watch the video closely you will see that train 112 speed command went to zero before the impact. And if the operator of train 214 ACTUALLY followed the RULES the accident might not have happened

1 reply · active less than 1 minute ago

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Shame on you · 764 weeks ago

It really bothers me when people who do not know what they are talking about make judgements like this. She WAS following the rules. You said, "train 112 speed command went to zero before the impact:" This is standard on an ATO train. It happens all day long. The commands go to 0, and the train stops. Trains cannot stop on a dime. Simple physics.

To blame the operator is WRONG!! She was following procedure and allowing the train to perform it's functions. As soon as she saw the train in front of her, she "hit the mushroom." (emergency brake) She had a 3 second reaction time, according to the video. That is a good reaction time. This was an equipment malfuntion, pure and simple.

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Dezlboy · 765 weeks ago

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0f5duQDYwg

one minute mark

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@SchuminWeb · 765 weeks ago

Very scary, if you ask me.

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@mponder · 765 weeks ago

God, that is horrifying. Any idea why train 214 was moving so much slower than the system speed command? I watched it again and still missed it if any explanation was present.

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@schwars1 · 765 weeks ago

The info / text page at the beginning written by the NTSB says the accident occured on June 22, 2010 - not 2009. You'd think they would have done a quick read before releasing this.

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king friday xiii · 764 weeks ago

Terrifying.

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Anon · 764 weeks ago

Earlier reporting seemed to either state or imply that the train operator applied the brakes 3 seconds later than the earliest possible time, and that didn't make much of a difference, because 3 seconds sooner wouldn't have been fast enough to prevent the accident. But watching the video, the stopped train was visible for more than 30 seconds before the accident. The 3 second bit is only based on when the entire train was in view, which doesn't seem meaningful. Seeing any portion of the stopped train should be enough. You would think that 30 seconds of seeing the train ahead of you while your train continues to accelerate would be enough time to realize that something's wrong and you should do something about it.

@WMATA Black Black: No it doesn't, that video doesn't show the speed command going to 0 before the impact. For all of the last 16 seconds before the impact, the speed command is at 55.

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Anon 2 · 764 weeks ago

For the anonymous person commenting on the entire train being in view I think we need to remember that this is just an animation. The first thing that came to mind when I was watching it was that they didn't model anything other than the tracks and the bridge. I'm sure there were other things that could have potentially blocked the view.

Also long forgotten by most at this point were the weekends after the accident where that stretch was shut down so that the investigators could recreate the scene using actual trains. The animation is great to visualize things but I don't think it gives the full story either. Considering how exhaustive the report was I trust the investigators actual measurements in the field over a computer recreation.

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LetsLook@SimplyFACTS · 764 weeks ago

REPLY TO ANON'S COMMENT to: WMATA Black Black: "No it doesn't, that video doesn't show the speed command going to 0 before the impact. For all of the last 16 seconds before the impact, the speed command is at 55. "

The speed command for train 112 CLEARLY went to 0 for atleast 4 seconds 4:57:40 AND 4:57:45-47, SO YOU ARE MISTAKEN...Watch the video closely before you respond to someone saying they are wrong! The question should be why the speed command went to 0 more than once before the actual impact? the system is just flawed, but thanks for making me laugh trying to blame a person for a obviously faulty system...smh!

1 reply · active less than 1 minute ago

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Anon · 764 weeks ago

"The speed command for train 112 CLEARLY went to 0 for atleast 4 seconds 4:57:40 AND 4:57:45-47, SO YOU ARE MISTAKEN...Watch the video closely before you respond to someone saying they are wrong!"

Did you even read what I wrote? "For all of the last 16 seconds before the impact, the speed command is at 55." You agree with me with your timings, the speed command was at 55 for the 16 seconds leading up to the crash. Maybe you should pay attention before you respond to someone saying they are wrong and go off with your abuse of caps lock.