Ohio Train Crash: Officials Release Preliminary Report on Potential Causes
AllSides Summary
A preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) pointed to an overheated wheel bearing as a potential cause of a train derailment near East Palestine, Ohio.
Key Quotes: While the NTSB said its investigation was ongoing, the report states: “The wayside defect detector, or hot bearing detector (HBD), transmitted a critical audible alarm message instructing the crew to slow and stop the train to inspect a hot axle. The train engineer increased the dynamic brake application to further slow and stop the train. During this deceleration, an automatic emergency brake application initiated, and train 32N came to a stop.”
Pete's Visit: Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, whose response to the crash has been criticized by Republicans, visited the site for the first time on Thursday. At a press conference, Buttigieg called the NTSB report an “important step” in addressing rail policy and praised East Palestine’s “decency and resolve.” Addressing criticism of his response, Buttigieg said, “I felt strongly about this and could have expressed that sooner.”
For Context: Some, including Buttigieg, previously suggested that Trump-era deregulation of train brake requirements could have contributed to the derailment. When Buttigieg noted in a Twitter thread that train safety regulations were “constrained” by “withdrawn” braking rules, many on the right said he “blamed Trump” for the disaster.
How the Media Covered It: Coverage was widespread across the spectrum. Headlines varied in their framing of the report’s findings, with some emphasizing that the train crew was warned about the hot axle too late to stop the crash.
Featured Coverage of this Story
From the Right
Crew tried to prevent toxic East Palestine train derailment: NTSB
Crew members tried in vain to prevent the train carrying hazardous materials through East Palestine, Ohio from derailing, a government report released Thursday said.
The train, which was traveling three miles below its maximum authorized speed, passed by a hot bearing detector in Palestine, Ohio on Feb. 3 that registered a temperature 253 degrees above normal.
The sensor “transmitted a critical audible alarm message instructing the crew to slow and stop the train to inspect a hot axle,” which the crew immediately listened to, according to the report by the National Transportation Safety Board...
From the Left
NTSB: No alert for train crew until just before derailment
The crew operating a freight train that derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, did not receive a critical warning about an overheated axle until just before dozens of cars went off the tracks, federal safety investigators said in a report Thursday as U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg made his first visit to the crash site.
An engineer slowed and stopped the train after getting a “critical audible alarm message,” according to a preliminary report by the National Transportation Safety Board. The crew then saw fire and smoke and alerted dispatch of a possible...
From the Center
Hot box warning came too late for Norfolk Southern train that derailed in Ohio
Norfolk Southern hot box detectors recorded increasing bearing temperatures on the car suspected of causing the disastrous derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, the National Transportation Board said today in its preliminary report on the Feb. 3 wreck.
But the temperature readings never reached the critical threshold that would have tripped an alarm and required the crew to stop the train — until moments before the derailment, when train 32N passed the detector at milepost 49.81 in East Palestine.
“Train 32N passed three [hot box detector] systems on its trip before the...
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