Mr. Altosino said that before getting out himself, he helped a woman to safety as she floated toward him in the upended coach. The accident killed 16 people and injured 175. TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. 2023 A&E Television Networks, LLC. BRENTWOOD, Calif. Three people were killed Sunday afternoon when an Amtrak commuter train smashed into a car n Northern California, authorities said. 1993, Section A, Page 15 Buy . But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! The bayou is home to snakes and alligators, some say bears as well. (It does not include most grade crossing accidents and trespasser strikes that did not cause significant injury aboard the trains.) GPS guidance systems and improved radar have made it much less likely that a heavy vessel could hit it, and guides of Thursday's Blakeley Explorer tour said that trains have better warning systems as well. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. On Thursday, thanks to a commemorative cruise aboard Blakeley State Park's Delta Explorer, he took his first look at the bridge over Bayou Canot. (assistant engineer) WALKER, Dorothy, 62, Novato, Calif. The National Transportation Safety Board sought to interview the pilot and three crew members of a tugboat that had been pushing six barges, one of which officials say hit the bridge in fog shortly before the train wreck. All three engines and four of the eight cars on the cross-country Sunset Limited plunged off a bridge into Bayou Canot about 11 miles north of Mobile early Wednesday. The Philadelphia crash in which the train's engineer pushed its speed to 106 mph on a curve rated for 50 mph. Officials identified 74-year-old Donald Varnadoe and his 72-year-old wife Marjorie as two of the . The accident, the deadliest in Amtraks history, was caused by a negligent towboat operator and foggy conditions. The Associated Press. Nicholas Barchie, the president of Warrior and Gulf, did not respond to repeated calls for comment. (Lawrence Specker/LSpecker@AL.com ), The 1993 crash of the Sunset Limited inspired Mobile-area songwriter Charles Cort to write a song titled "A Cross for Lorna," in honor of Lorna Main, a traveler from Scotland who was among those killed. Its frustrating when you know that there are survivors in need and you cant help.. Chancey remembers tumbling as her double-decker coach, Car No. The dead ranged in age from 2 months to 86 years. The barges, loaded with cement and coal, were owned by the Warrior and Gulf Navigation Company, as was the tugboat Mauvilla, which was among the first vessels on the scene, officials said. Agents interviewed the tug operator but declined to identify him or reveal what he said. A Conrail freight train collided with the Amtrak train. Andrea's wheelchair made boarding more difficult than for other passengers, but she was thrilled about her first train ride. He was pronounced in good condition at a nearby hospital. Chancey sometimes wonders why she lived when so many others died. The train derailed at a crossover due to an improperly designed signal system. The injured were taken from. The train derailed due to oscillations from defective track. 34083, sailed off the end of the bridge and into the bayou. I guess I was physically moving, Watts said later, but I wasnt mentally coherent until the water rose to my waist and I realized, Hey this is serious, this is not a damn dream. . "I had my head on her belly and she was rubbing me.". The rails were displaced, but unbroken - meaning that a warning system wasn't triggered. Too much time has passed, he said. The train struck a gasoline tanker at a grade crossing. The National Transportation Safety Board arrived at the crash site Tuesday morning. The safety board had already determined, he said, that "there were adequate inspections done in the past few months to insure the integrity of the bridge, the engines and the tracks.". A string of crashes involving Amtrak. Had one of the rails been severed by the bridge's displacement, the track circuit would have opened, causing the approach signal to display a stop (red) aspect and the preceding signal an yellow (approach) approach indication. ", The medical units worked from the deck of a barge provided by the Scott Paper Company, which owns the tug Scott Pride. To date, it is both the deadliest train wreck in Amtrak . BNSF owns the railroad tracks used by Amtrak when a Southwest Chief train traveling from Los Angeles to Chicago collided with a pickup truck that was blocking an intersection near Mendon, Missouri. Seated next to him in one of the train cars was Fred Russell, 70, of Indio, Calif. There was suddenly a roller coaster sensation, Paiz said. Two locomotives, Amtrak GE P32-8BWH #511 leading and EMD F40PHR #398 trailing, and eight of twelve cars derailed, four of them falling 30 feet (9 m) off a trestle bridge into a dry river bed. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. [1] Odom helped save seventeen people after the crash using the same towboat that had been pushing the barge that hit the bridge.[6]. Agents were interviewing the tugboat crew, he said. He said the F.B.I. (Lawrence Specker/LSpecker@AL.com), Aboard the Delta Explorer, which usually makes more lighthearted scenic excursions, Capt. Chancey gets news alerts on her phone, and she's always shaken when another passenger train crashes. Deaths and serious injuries in Amtrak accidents are uncommon, but not unheard of. But in a last-minute change, he continued on toward Pensacola. One was killed read more, In an important victory for his Cold War foreign policy, President John F. Kennedy signs legislation establishing the Peace Corps as a permanent government agency. Like almost everyone, Mike Dopheide, 26, of Omaha, Neb., was asleep. Tom Russ said his brother was 43 and making a familiarization run on the Sunset Limited, which was to become his regular route the next weekend. . "I don't blame him one bit," Chancey said. Copyright 2023 Deseret News Publishing Company. The toll could eclipse the cumulative total of 48 people killed in all crashes on Amtrak since it was created 23 years ago to run the nations long-distance passenger trains. The Coast Guard did not arrive on the scene until 4:25 a.m., and it was another hour before the first helicopter arrived to assist in the rescue efforts. March 17, 1993 Amtrak Silver Star hits gasoline tanker. Transportation Secretary Federico F. Pena, who flew to the disaster scene, said the transportation safety board was investigating the possibility of a barge hitting the trestle. "Everybody just kind of floated together and went out the back of the car. The crash occurred in a remote area north of downtown Mobile. The train collided with a CSX freight train. The boat also lacked a compass and a chart of the waters. Willie Odom has suffered enough, Chancey said, particularly considering he helped save 17 people after the crash -- including her -- using the same towboat that hit the bridge. It shifted with the current and the weight inside, said Mobile Police Chief Harold Johnson. There was no immediate word on whether any of them were among the fatalities. Ivory, a Texas oil industry worker who helped save Chancey all those years ago, has a theory. It had smashed through a window, he said, and was keeping the car from submerging completely. RENZ, Alan C., 71, Bradenton, Fla. RENZ, Catherine, Bradenton, Fla. RUSS, Ernest Lamar, 46, Gulf Shores, Ala. (assistant engineer) SKELTON, Betty, 64, Pensacola, Fla. SKELTON, Oscar, 65, Pensacola, Fla. TAUBE, James, 31, Loxahatchee, Fla. TAUBE, Ruth, 28, Loxahatchee, Fla. VEITE, Christina E., 72, Eldred, Pa. VINET, Michael, 39, Kenner, La. Helicopter medical units from the University of South Alabama Medical Center were among the first units on the scene. The train derailed due to a damaged bridge. He said his car began filling with water and smoke. A third of the coach car hung over the edge. The train derailed after colliding with a dump truck obstructing a railroad crossing. After midnight on Sept. 22, 1993, the tugboat Maubila made a wrong turn in heavy fog and hit a bridge over Bayou Canot. The crash occurred at around 1 p.m . FILE - This Sept. 22, 1993, file photo shows the wreckage of the Amtrak Sunset Limited train, north of Mobile, Ala. A barge hit a railroad bridge and minutes later the train hit the bent tracks and plunged into the bayou, killing 47 people and injuring more than 100 others. Certain to be of crucial importance as the investigation unfolds is whether the tug crew ever sounded an alarm that the bridge had been struck, whether the Amtrak train could have been halted in time and whether the bridge had collapsed before the train arrived. The collision came a day after a sedan carrying five. He placed most of his emphasis upon the barges. The barges were lashed three wide and two deep, he said, and may have been too large to be legally using the narrow waterway. (Lawrence Specker/LSpecker@AL.com), In 1993, it took first responders an authorities some time to ascertain the full extent of the catastrophe. Three crew members and three passengers were still missing. On Monday, an Amtrak train crashed into a dump truck at a crossing in rural Missouri, killing three and leaving an unspecified number injured. After initial advances, the Iraqi offense was repulsed. Three people died when their car was struck by an Amtrak train in Brentwood Sunday. Dopheide said he climbed back inside to see if anyone had been left behind. By now, divers were going through submerged portions of the railroad cars hand over hand. One lady was holding onto someones belt.. The accident, the deadliest in Amtrak's history, was caused by a negligent towboat. An Amtrak train headed to Miami derails near Mobile, Alabama, killing 47 people on September 22, 1993. It was, as The Saturday Evening Post wrote, a mad motorists dream: 32 lanes of read more. After briefly attending Wright State University and a failed marriage, Chancey wound up back on the Mississippi coast in Biloxi, where she lives today in an apartment with an assistance dog. Moreover, the cost to District agencies to enhance emergency preparedness is $250 million. Get up to speed with our Essential California newsletter, sent six days a week. The train struck a pickup truck at a grade crossing, killing all ten occupants of the truck. Buy newspaper front pages, posters and more. The lead locomotive embedded itself nose-first into the canal bank and the other two locomotives, together with the baggage car, sleeping car and two of the six passenger cars, plunged into the water. One of those barges has a big dent in it, said special agent Chuck Archer in Mobile, Ala. The rail line confirmed there were injuries to passengers and crew members, but offered no more details. By that clocking, the train crashed into the bayou at about 2:48 a.m. The other two engines and three cars have yet to be recovered. This page was last edited on 21 February 2023, at 02:55. The train derailed due to a track defect. Mr. Archer said F.B.I. Three people were killed Sunday afternoon when an Amtrak commuter train smashed into a car in Northern California, authorities said. They did it again,'" she said. Several of the passengers were elderly. Search conditions are very difficult because of the murky waters, said Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. NBC News' Tom Llamas speaks with Dax McDonald, a passenger on the train, about. Fire spread to the wood-and-steel trestle. The train derailed due to a heat-induced kink in the track. He said he threw out some duffel bags--but could not find his own belongings. Accompanied by her parents on her first train trip, 11-year-old Andrea Chancey couldn't sleep despite the steady rocking of the Amtrak coach. It served as a temporary morgue. His murder was the first in a series of strange attacks in both upstate New York and New York City. See the article in its original context from. The train collided with a work train due to an improperly set switch. I see the fire. The family was living in Orange Park, Florida, in 1993 when they boarded Amtrak's Sunset Limited for a trip to visit relatives in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. 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