National Transportation Safety Board opens special investigation into Norfolk Southern
Brady Knox
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The National Transportation Safety Board announced that it has opened an investigation into Norfolk Southern, the company that has recently had two different trains derail in Ohio.
The investigation is focused on the company’s “safety practices and culture,” the board said in an announcement.
The investigation comes a little more than a month after a massive train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, that unleashed toxic chemicals into the air.
The Tuesday announcement was accompanied by news that a Norfolk Southern conductor had been killed by a dump truck in Ohio, according to CNN.
ANOTHER NORFOLK SOUTHERN TRAIN DERAILS IN SPRINGFIELD, OHIO AFTER TOXIC EAST PALESTINE SPILL
“Given the number and significance of recent Norfolk Southern accidents, the NTSB also urges the company to take immediate action today to review and assess its safety practices, with the input of employees and others, and implement necessary changes to improve safety,” the NTSB said in a press release.
“The continued safe operations of Norfolk Southern is vital to the United States. The NTSB is concerned that several organizational factors may be involved in the accidents, including safety culture. The NTSB will conduct an in-depth investigation into the safety practices and culture of the company. At the same time, the company should not wait to improve safety and the NTSB urges it to do so immediately,” it added.
It listed five major accidents in just four months as justifying the need for a special investigation: two deaths and one injury due to two separate accidents in December, the East Palestine derailment in February, another derailment on March 3, and most recently, the death of a conductor following a crash Tuesday. Each incident will be investigated by a special team.
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“FRA, NTSB, and OSHA are investigating after a collision this morning killed a Norfolk Southern conductor in Cleveland. Our thoughts are with the family facing this preventable tragedy. Now more than ever, it is time for stronger freight railroad accountability and safety,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg tweeted on Tuesday.
https://twitter.com/SecretaryPete/status/1633143461879726091?s=20
Calls for accountability from Norfolk Southern executives have grown in Congress and from the White House since the East Palestine derailment on Feb. 3.