1993 Big Bayou Canot train wreck
The Big Bayou Canot train wreck on September 22, 1993 Mobile ( Alabama) was the worst rail accident in the history of American passenger transport company Amtrak. 42 passengers and five conductor were killed, 103 passengers were injured, some seriously.
The sequence
On the day of the accident was the night of the Sunset Limited Express left the station from New Orleans for repairs with over 30 minutes late, dense fog over the region of the Mobile River. Although the sight on the river was only about 15 meters, leaving the captain of the six-part pushed convoy ship Mauvilla, laden with coal and pig iron, his less experienced, radarunkundigen ship piloting the control. This turned mistakenly left on the Big Bayou Canot from a closed to ship traffic tributary of the Mobile River, which he held for the left turn of the mobile, which is, however, a few kilometers further upstream. Although the ship had radar - then one does not generally spread facility - but had neither compass nor cards on board. Meanwhile took the Sunset Limited on its journey.
Because of the small radar experience of the ship's pilot, the lying in front of him, unlit Bayou Canot Bridge suggested this as a further pushed convoy and tried to moor it. At this time, the train was about ten minutes before the bridge in question. As the captain misjudged the speed, he rammed the bridge slightly to the foremost barge. In the belief that to be accrued on the bank, he stopped his ship. The Sunset Limited crossed at this moment about two minutes before the bridge the last green holding signal. During the subsequent driving over the bridge shortly before 3:00 clock with around 115 km / h train locomotives derailed the three, the following luggage and sleeping cars and two of the six cars of the Sunset Limited. When you fall in the swampy river, the train parts tore the middle part of the bridge with yourself. The last of the passenger cars remained on the rest of the bridge are still present. The leaking diesel fuel train locomotives caught fire and spread out on the water. The crew of the ship became aware of the accident by the fire. They managed to rescue 15 people from the water. However, 42 of the 200 passengers were killed in this accident, as well as five crew members.
The police investigation
Immediately after the accident, which was reported by the Mauvilla himself, took the FBI in connection with bridge designers and the water police on identifying the causes. Quick ran the towboat in the sight of the investigators. Due to various paint damage on the left front barge and accordingly chipped concrete bridge piers on the left tried engineers to reconstruct the situation. However, you came to the conclusion that the impact of the ship would not have been sufficient to deform the tracks accordingly. After a second inspection of the vessel were also found at the middle barge corresponding tracks. ( :; Center section (steel beams on a central steel - concrete piers, rotatable) 55 m truss bridge on concrete piers: 46 m; northern section: 64 m wooden planks bridge south section) discovered that the bridge was in examining the plans of the 80 year old bridge has also been was designed as a swing bridge. The rotating part of the bridge was not fixed as it would have been necessary in the conversion in a non-rotatable bridge. This was considered as the main cause of the accident scale, but also partly badly corroded connections of steel beams with concrete pillars. The impact pushed convoy would not have caused at correctly bonded bridge ends such a track buckling on the bridge. Since all ships radar, compass and water maps must have on board, all skippers and radar traffic controllers to be knowledgeable, and bear all the bridges over the river warning lights.
According to the detection result of the left barge slammed into one of the concrete pillars, and the average barge the non-fixed part of the bridge. As a result of these twisted by about 97 cm. This bent lying on the bridge tracks, but did not break them. Although this shift was enough for the derailment of the train, but not for the activation of the alarm sensor that responds only to broken rails and would provide the signals for all the trains running on Red alarm. Therefore, the warning signal was the last signal that could have stopped the train, to green, also.
The responsible pilot was acquitted of all charges, but never navigated a ship. Great detail this misfortune is portrayed in the episode blows (84 ) from the series Medical Detectives. In addition, treated the sixth episode of the first season of the documentary series Seconds before the accident the accident.