WASHINGTON — The National Transportation Safety Board has issued a half-dozen safety recommendations as a result of its investigation into an Aug. 2, 2017, CSX Transportation derailment in Hyndman, Pa. Thirty-three cars of a 178-car train derailed, resulting in an evacuation order covering about 1,000 residents and damage estimated at $1.8 million.
The report on the derailment, issued this week, says the probable cause of the accident was improper use of hand brakes on empty railcars to control train speed, as well as placement of empty cars at the front of the train consist. This led to the build-up of longitudinal and lateral forces that, along with tread buildup on the 35th car in the consist, led that car to be the first to derail.
The derailment occurred at 4:54 a.m. The train included 70 cars containing hazardous materials; a car containing propane caught fire, while cars containing molten sulfur and asphalt also leaked. The propane fire led emergency crews to withdraw from the scene and to the evacuation order; the fire was not extinguished until the morning of Aug. 4; because of smoke and high levels of sulfur dioxide from the smoldering molten sulfur, the evacuation was not lifted until 11:30 a.m. on Aug. 5.
As a result of the investigation, the NTSB’s safety recommendations included three for CSX, one for the Federal Railroad Administration, one for the Association of American Railroads, and one for the Security and Emergency Response Training Center.
For CSX, the board recommended revising rules on building trains to place large blocks of empty cars near the end of a consist; prohibiting the use of hand brakes on empty cars to control train speed; and incorporating lessons about the hazards of fire in jacketed pressure tank cars in first-responder training and outreach.
“CSX appreciates the work of the NTSB in connection with the derailment in Hyndman, Pa.,” the railroad said in a statement Thurday afternoon. “We will be reviewing and responding to the NTSB’s recommendations.”
For the FRA, the board recommended issuing guidance to develop risk reduction programs; such programs were not required at the time of the accident, but were mandated under a rule published in February 2020 and effective in August 2021. For the AAR, the NTSB recommended working with member railroads to develop those programs.
And, for the response training center, the NTSB recommended incorporating lessons from the accident into first-responder training programs.
— Updated at 6:15 p.m. with statement from CSX.
