CHICAGO — Surveillance video showing the moment of impact when a CTA train crashed into an escalator at O’Hare International Airport has been posted online. Thirty-two people on board were taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
According to WGN, the National Transportation Safety Board said the braking system was engaged and the train apparently was not speeding. An emergency stop was activated automatically to slow the train down, but investigators do not know why it failed to stop the train before it crashed and careened up the escalator.
Investigators say 25 miles an hour is an appropriate speed.
NTSB investigators interviewed the towermen who were stationed at the end of the track who saw the train come into the station. But they say they did not see anything out of line.
The train operator has told her union representatives that she was extremely tired during her shift yesterday, and there are reports that she may have dozed off at the controls.
The NTSB hopes to be able to finish gathering evidence soon so it can release the train to the CTA, so it can begin the process of removing the train. That will be a tedious process because it will require cutting apart the front car to remove it.
There is still no time frame for when the O’Hare station will reopen. Until then passengers will continue to be shuttled back and forth from the Rosemont station.
