Metro: Train operator not using cell phone

WASHINGTON - Three days after the crash on Metro's Red Line, investigators are trying to determine how much operator-error factored into the tragic accident.

There has been some speculation about whether the operator, Jeanice McMillan, was using her cell phone when the train collided with a stopped train during the afternoon rush hour, killing herself and eight others.

Metro General Manager John Catoe tells WTOP the cell phone was not an issue.

"We know where her cell phone was -- it was not on her. It was in a backpack."

He says all signs are showing that the operator did everything she could to prevent the crash.

"The train itself was trying to stop for several hundred feet," Catoe says. "There's not one letter of evidence that our operator did anything to cause the accident."

Catoe will discuss this week's fatal train crash in his first regular chat since Monday's accident that killed nine people.

The live online chat is planned Friday from 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Catoe will directly respond to questions about the accident and how Metro is making sure the system is safe.

Questions must be submitted during the hour-long live chat to be answered. Catoe holds the regular chats, which can be accessed through a link on Metro's home page.

In the meantime, Metro has ordered a system-wide inspection of all of its track circuits after federal safety investigators found "anomalies" in the stretch of track near the crash site.

Additionally, Metro's board decided Thursday to move all Series 1000 cars, the oldest cars on the subway system, to the middle of its trains.

Catoe tells WTOP he ordered an inspection of the nearly 3,000 circuits. The sensors electronically send messages to the trains.

"I don't care what the NTSB finds or how small the problem, we are going to do whatever it takes to ensure the safety of our system. I'm not going to wait until they release a final report," Catoe tells WTOP.

Metro Board Chairman Jim Graham tells WTOP while the cause of the accident has not been determined, the inspections will be done as a precautionary measure.

The "anomalies" may be partially to blame for the transit system's deadliest crash, but investigators stopped short of saying the circuit issue is to blame.

"Whether trains are operated in automatic or manual, these circuits are vital," said Debbie Hersman, National Transportation Safety Board member. "We're particularly interested in the speed commands that might be sent from that circuit when there's a train standing on that circuit."

Investigators say they are looking closely at a 740-foot-long track circuit. Also, the train operator of the struck train who survived also will be interviewed Thursday morning. He was released from the hospital Wednesday.

Hersman says five of six circuits, or stretches of track, showed no problems during tests Wednesday. But she says there were "anomalies" with the sixth circuit. Hersman would not elaborate on what those might be, saying more tests are needed.

The electronic sensors in question may have sent signals to the striking train to go at speed -- 59 mph.

The Washington Post reports an internal Metro report shows the system was not working properly. The computer system, the paper reports, was telling the striking train that there was no train ahead of it. The computers might have sent the train to crash into the one ahead of it.

"If the sensors didn't work properly, it deprived (the train operator) of very vital information," said Najm Meshkati, professor of engineering at the University of Southern California. "She was the last layer of defense."

Metro reopened all of its Red Line stations Thursday for the morning and afternoon commutes, but closed a stretch of the tracks near the Takoma station during the mid-day hours.

After flat bed trains cleared the mangled wreckage Wednesday between the Fort Totten and Takoma Metro stations, crews brought in another six-car train Wednesday night to run tests and see what they could find out about the circuitry.

Train operators are operating the trains in manual mode, rather than automatic -- where the computer controls the trains -- while the investigation continues.

Investigators have found the emergency braking system had been in use 300 to 400 feet before the crash. From the point of collision to the end of the standing car, the standing train was pushed 7 feet during the collision.

The NTSB's investigation may last a year.

Investigators will look at the McMillan's train testing, her medical records and what her work/rest schedule was in the 72 hours preceding the accident.

"Fatigue is a big issue in transportation accidents," Hersman says.

"If we find anything that we think is an acute safety issue, we have the ability to issue urgent safety recommendations, and we've done that before with Metro," Hersman tells WTOP.

Crews have surveyed all businesses in the area to see whether anyone had cameras rolling on the crash. So far, there has been no footage found. Anyone who witnessed the crash or has video of the crash is asked to call 866-328-6347.

Meanwhile, family and friends are remembering the nine who died:

• Mary Doolittle, 59, of Northwest D.C.;
• Ana Fernandez, 40, of Hyattsville;
• Dennis Hawkins, 64, of Southeast D.C.;
• Lavonda "Nikki" King, 23, of Northeast D.C.,
• Veronica Dubose, 29
• Cameron Williams, 36, of D.C.;
• Maj. Gen. David F. Wherley Jr.;
• Ann Wherley, 62 of D.C.;
• Jeanice McMillan, 42, of Springfield, Va., the operator of the striking train.

Hawkins was an office manager at Whittier Elementary School in Northeast.

Wherley served as commanding general of the D.C. National Guard for the first two years of D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty's administration.

Metro is establishing an emergency hardship relief fund to help survivors and the families of the victims.

"This is not about evening-up the situation. This is not about any kind of settlement. This is about responding to immediate human needs that have come to our attention," says Metro Board member Jim Graham.

Metro will use $250,000 from a reserve fund to provide financial relief for victims of the collision, to assist them with their medical, funeral and other immediate expenses.

Metro says customers who were onboard trains 112 or 214 can file an injury claim by calling 202-962-1681.

(Copyright 2009 by WTOP and The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)