The National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) ongoing investigation of the Aug. 27, 2024, accident involving a Norfolk Southern (NS) conductor seriously injured while coupling railcars at a Virginia yard will focus on “additional interviews, NS policies and procedures, the emergency response to the accident, and railroad industry procedures for coupling railcars on tracks with gravity operations and a descending grade,” the agency reported Sept. 17 during the release of its preliminary report.
The accident occurred at about 10:10 p.m. local time, on track 11 of the NS Empty Yard at Lambert’s Point Yard in Norfolk (see figure, top); visibility was low and the weather was 78°F with no precipitation, according to the NTSB, which noted that its information is “preliminary and subject to change.”
What happened? “The injured conductor was coupling railcars that had been gravity fed onto the track when railcars 20 through 40 unexpectedly rolled in his direction, pinching him between railcars 19 and 20,” reported the agency, which explained that the gravity-fed dumper facility at Empty Yard “operates on an eastward-descending grade; at the top of the grade, employees feed the full railcars into the dumper facility, which empties them, and then the empty railcars roll east onto receiving tracks.”
The NS switching crew (UL30) comprised an engineer and the conductor, and the railroad equipment on track 11 consisted of one locomotive, two slugs, and 40 empty gondolas; railcars 1 through 19 were coupled to the locomotive and the slugs, according to the NTSB.
“Before the accident, the crew was in the process of coupling railcars 20 through 40 to railcar 19 and the rest of the railroad equipment,” the agency reported. “The injured conductor and the engineer had made several unsuccessful attempts to couple railcars 19 and 20. The two railcars would not connect because of a damaged coupler component on railcar 19.” At the time of the accident, NTSB said, the injured conductor was under “three-step protection”—an NS procedure used to “ensure the engineer does not move the locomotive while an employee is working on equipment”—and “working on railcar 19’s coupler, when railcar 20 (along with railcars 21 through 40) unexpectedly rolled east and struck him.” Emergency medical services transported the injured conductor to a nearby hospital where he was treated and released, according to the agency.
The NTSB reported that while on the scene its investigators completed interviews; conducted an accident reenactment; reviewed NS’s policies and procedures; inspected the track, locomotives and railcars; and reviewed radio communications and locomotive event recorder data.
Parties to the investigation include the Federal Railroad Administration; NS; Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen; and International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers.
According to the NTSB, the timing between beginning an investigation and a “probable cause determination and report varies based on the complexity of the investigation and the workload of the agency’s investigators.” Generally, the agency tries to complete an investigation within 12 to 24 months, it said.
