In a press release issued Jan. 25, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined that an airbrake failure caused a fatal collision between two Union Pacific trains in Granite Canyon, Wyo. on Oct. 4, 2018.
Local 446 members Benjamin Brozovich and Jason V. Martinez were killed in the collision. According to the NTSB, the collision occurred when the air brakes on their eastbound freight train failed while going down a hill. An air flow restriction in the brake pipe caused the air brake system to fail, and the end-of-train device failed to respond to an emergency brake command, the NTSB reported. As a result, the runaway train collided with the rear of a stopped UP train while going approximately 55 mph.
Click here to read more from the NTSB.
Tag: Benjamin Brozovich
As the National Transportation Safety Board continues to investigate an accident in Wyoming that killed two SMART TD members out of Local 446, it issued a pair of safety recommendations to Class I railroads and a recommendation to the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association regarding train emergency brake communication.
Benjamin George “Benji” Brozovich, 39, and Jason V. Martinez, 40, both members of the Cheyenne, Wyo., local, died in the Oct. 4, 2018, accident. The NTSB recommendations follow.
To the Class I Railroads:
Review and issue guidance as necessary for the inspection of end-of-railcar air hose configurations to ensure the air hose configuration matches the intended design. (R-19-41)
Review and revise your air brake and train handling instructions for grade operations and two-way end-of-train device instructions to include: monitoring locomotive air flow meters, checking the status of communication between the head-of-train and end-of train devices before cresting a grade, and the actions to take if the air pressure at the rear of the train does not respond to an air brake application. (R-19-42)
To the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association:
Alert your member carriers to (1) inspect the end-of-railcar air hose configurations to ensure the hose configurations match the intended design and (2) review and revise their air brake and train handling instructions for grade operations and two-way end-of-train device instructions to include: monitoring locomotive air flow meters, checking the status of communication between the head-of-train and end-of-train devices before cresting a grade, and the actions to take if the air pressure from the rear of the train does not respond to an air brake application. (R-19-43)
The NTSB investigation into the accident is ongoing. It issued a preliminary report on the accident last November.
Read the safety recommendations on the NTSB website.
SMART Transportation Division is mourning the loss of two members who were killed in a deadly train collision that occurred Oct. 4 west of Cheyenne, Wyo.
Benjamin Brozovich, 39, of Lusk, Wyo., and Jason V. Martinez, 40, of Cheyenne, died when their Union Pacific freight train collided into the back of another stopped UP train.
Martinez was a 12-year member out of Local 446. Brozovich had been a member of the same local for three years.
Members of the SMART TD National Safety Team were dispatched and assisting the National Transportation Safety Board in its investigation, said Vice President John England.
Wyoming State Legislative Director Stan Blake described the crash as “horrific.”
The investigation is continuing.