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Train slams into downed plane in Pacoima after pilot is pulled from wreckage
Police officers dragged a bleeding pilot out of a Cessna 172 that crashed on a set of train tracks near Whiteman Airport in Pacoima on Sunday, Jan. 9, just moments before a train rushed by and slammed into the immobilized aircraft. (www.dailynews.com) Más...Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
Yet another example of how police officers risk their lives, without a second thought, everyday on our behalf. Thank the next one you see!
There is no excuse for that metro commuter train blasting through that intersection at 60+ mph. This is a failure of infrastructure. Any city and county 911 system should have immediate quick dial access to 7x24 train engineer communication if a report comes in about a vehicle (or a plane in this case), on the tracks. Forget dispatch. Someone there might be in the bathroom or getting coffee in the break room. From what I understand here there were at least five minutes between the crash and when the police showed up and pulled him out. Plenty of time to get that passenger train stopped.
How was it the train’s fault that someone parked an airplane on the tracks? Trains don’t operate like cars and cannot just stop or go around an obstruction.
I think it takes a mile or more to stop a train at that speed. In the video, it looked to be a lot closer. So, yes, if they could have gotten the word sooner. But what makes an engineer think he can just blast through an area like that without caution?
I worked on the railway for a few years and trains do take a bit of distance to stop. It’s steel wheels on steel rail so if too much brake is applied the wheels skid and create flat spots, then when the train starts to go again those flat spots pound the rail and that can lead to broken rails which leads to trains in the ditch which is something railways try to avoid. So depending on speed and weight the Hogger(what they call the guy who sleeps behind the controls) has to stop the train in the safest manner possible. This was a passenger train so it’s light and skids easily, next train might be hauling chemicals that could wipe out a small city if it derails on a broken rail so all that comes into play and the people who think the train should have just stopped have no clue as to how trains work.
Railroads have speed limits as well. The engineer is allowed to travel at the speed set for that stretch of track. If it is 60MPH, then he can do so as long as the lights do not having him stopping somewhere.
The closest light I can see along that stretch of tracks is not quite a mile and a half south of the airport and the intersection where the plane crashed where a siding splits off. Remember that trains do not operate like motor vehicles on city streets. They are given warnings at one light that they may have to stop further up the line by a second light unlike you where one signal tells you that you have to stop.
The closest light I can see along that stretch of tracks is not quite a mile and a half south of the airport and the intersection where the plane crashed where a siding splits off. Remember that trains do not operate like motor vehicles on city streets. They are given warnings at one light that they may have to stop further up the line by a second light unlike you where one signal tells you that you have to stop.
Thanks, White Knight.