NTSB Conducts Train Crash Reenactment

The NTSB is going through the process of investigating the Metrolink train crash from last Friday, and yesterday, on the repaired tracks, brought in a Metrolink train and a couple of Union Pacific locomotives to test the sight lines. The engineers had only seconds to react:

By the time the engineer on a Union Pacific freight train saw an oncoming Metrolink train, he only had four seconds of reaction time to hit his brakes, according to partial results of a reenactment conducted today by federal investigators.

National Transportation Safety Board member Kitty Higgins said in an interview that a "site distance" test concluded that the engineer had just two seconds to the "point of collision" by the time he actually hit his brakes during last Friday's disaster in Chatsworth that killed 25.

"By then it was too late," Higgins said.

The same test concluded that the Metrolink engineer did not hit his brakes, Higgins said.

A second simulation showed that the Metrolink driver not only ran a red signal after leaving the Chatsworth Station but also drove past two lights prior to the station that should have told him that there was an upcoming red signal, Higgins said.

One light was flashing yellow, which meant the engineer was supposed to slow down. The other light was solid yellow, a warning that there was a red light after the Chatsworth Station, Higgins said.

"That indicates that you stop," she said.

Investigators have not determined what the engineer actually saw as he raced past the red light at 42 mph before slamming into the oncoming freight train.

The fact that the Metrolink engineer never hit his brakes makes you wonder a couple of things. Was he distracted and never saw the other train, or was he somehow disabled? It will be weeks before the autopsy results are finalized, and we may never be sure.

There was another ironic twist to this crash story. As it turned out there were three people on that train who had survived what was previously the worst crash in Metrolink history. That crash in 2005 occurred further south on the same line in Glendale. One of those 2005 survivors didn't survive this wreck:

Three years ago, Gregory Lintner walked away with only scrapes and bruises from a Metrolink train crash in Glendale that killed 11 people. One woman, bloodied and badly injured, called the Army veteran a "hero" for staying by her side as they waited for emergency crews to arrive.

He was OK, Lintner told everyone afterward. He continued riding the train.

Then on Friday, the unthinkable happened.

Lintner, 48, was once again caught in a deadly Metrolink accident. This time, he was among the 25 people killed when their commuter train collided head-on with a Union Pacific freight train.

There are a lot of really sad stories coming out of this wreck. Another twist - Fox News correspondent Adam Housely, who is based in Los Angeles, responded to the scene and only found out later that a good friend of his was at that same time being cut out of the heavily damaged first train car. His friend will survive, but is facing a number of other surgeries. Adam did a phone interview with him which you can find here.