NTSB: Text messaging key to Metrolink crash

Text messaging by a Metrolink engineer was the primary cause of the deadly crash with a Union Pacific freight train in Chatsworth, Calif., on Sept. 12, 2008, the National Transportation Safety Board said Thursday.

NTSB found that human frailty, and not any malfunction of railroad signaling, was to blame for the incident, which killed 25 and injured more than 100.

"Tragically, an instant message turned an ordinary commute into a catastrophe," said Deborah Hersman, NTSB chairman.

NTSB’s findings come despite testimony by some suggesting that the Metrolink train was cleared to proceed.  "All recorded data and physical evidence in this accident are consistent with the Metrolink train failing to stop at the red signal at Topanga and continuing along the main track reserved for the Union Pacific train," said Wayne Workman, NTSB’s chief investigator for the accident.

The incident spurred Congress to pass legislation in October 2008 mandating the installation of Positive Train Control on large portions of the U.S. railroad network, including most lines where freight and passenger trains share rights-of-way.