On September 22, 1993, barges, being pushed by the towboat MAUVILLA in dense fog, struck and displaced the Big Bayou Canot railroad bridge near Mobile, Alamaba. Shorter after, the Amtrak Sunset Limited struck the displaced bridge and derailed. Forty-two passengers and 5 train crewmembers were killed; 103 passengers were injured. The towboat crew was uninjured. The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable causes of Amtrak train 2's derailment were the displacement of the Big Bayou Canot railroad bridge when it was struck by the MAUVILLA and tow as a result of the MAUVILLA's pilot becoming lost and disoriented in the dense fog because of (1) the pilot's lack of radar navigation competency; (2) Warrior & Gulf Navigation Company's failure to ensure that its pilot was competent to use radar to navigate his tow during periods of reduced visibility; and (3) the U.S. Coast Guard's failure to establish higher standards for inland towing vessel operator licensing. Contributing to the accident was the lack of a national risk assessment program to determine bridge vulnerability to marine vessel collision. Safety issues discussed in the accident report include towboat operator training and evaluation, bridge risk assessment, bridge identification, emergency response and evacuation procedures, and event recorder crashworthiness.
National Transportation Safety Board Railroad-Marine Accident Report: Derailment of Amtrak Train No. 2 on the CSXT Big Bayou Canot Bridge Near Mobile, Alabama, September 22, 1993
1993
78 pages
Report
No indication
English
Transportation Safety , Railroad Transportation , Accident investigations , Railroad accidents , Derailment , Amtrak system , Railroad bridges , Barges , Fatalities , Injuries , Human error , Jog , Recommendations , Alabama , Big Bayou Canot Bridge , MAUVILLA towboat , Mobile(Albama) , Amtrak train 2