CTA Yellow Line Crash Probed By NTSB Investigators

SKOKIE, IL — National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy briefed reporters Friday afternoon on the prior morning's collision involving a Chicago Transit Authority Yellow Line train and rail equipment near the Howard CTA station.

Homendy said her team spent the day documenting the scene before allowing the damaged Skokie Swift rail car and snow-removal equipment to be moved to another location for additional analysis.

"Right now, it's really about looking at the scene as it stood after the event," Homendy said. "On scene we will not be doing any analysis, we are only here to get the facts, we are here to get the perishable evidence, that's the evidence that goes away once they reopen the line and clean everything up."

Homendy said she could confirm that the Yellow Line train had collided with snow-removal equipment but had not determined why it was on the tracks.

"I cannot state at this time why it was there," she said. "That is information that we are asking CTA for and will be asking others in interviews as well."

The NTSB chair said her team is expected to remain on scene for about five days. Homendy said she hoped the Yellow Line could resume service before then.

Jim Southworth, railroad accident investigator-in-charge, said there were CTA personnel on the snow-removal equipment at the time of the crash, but could not yet confirm how many or their position.

Homendy said the federal transportation safety agency had not yet flagged any immediate safety deficiency to CTA.

"It's really focused on documenting the scene, getting what we can now and getting the interviews [with witnesses]," she said. "We have not conducted any interviews yet."

There were 31 passengers and seven CTA employees involved in the crash. Twenty-three people were taken to area hospitals, three of them critically injured from the crash and derailment, according to fire officials.

As of Friday morning, at least two injured passengers had already filed lawsuits in Cook County court alleging that the CTA was negligent.

A NTSB preliminary report containing only a factual accounting of the incident is expected within about two weeks. A full report containing safety analysis remains about 12 to 18 months down the road.

Related:

• Passengers Hurt In CTA Yellow Line Crash Begin Filing Lawsuits
• Nearly 40 Injured In Train Crash, Derailment At Howard Street Station