Investigators say the rail broke before the fatal train crash near Pueblo

Findings released this month by the National Transportation Safety Board suggest that a section of rail near Pueblo, where a coal train jumped the tracks and crashed onto Interstate 25 last year, was broken before the fatal accident.

The derailment caused the railroad bridge over I-25 to collapse, causing six railcars to crash onto the highway and killing 60-year-old truck driver Lafollette Henderson, who was traveling under the bridge at the time.

The NTSB documents include analyzes of three rail sections taken from the site, as well as interviews with BNSF railroad workers and other investigative findings.

According to the agency, video recovered from the lead locomotive shows the damaged track in front of the coal train shortly before the accident on October 15, 2023.

NTSB investigators recounted the history of inspections of railroad infrastructure near the derailment. The track near milepost 109,654 where the train derailed was inspected twice by BNSF in the week before the accident, on October 9th and 11th. No defects were found both times.

Although the company reported inspecting the route a third time on October 13, investigators determined that “there was an error in the reporting” and the inspection had actually been canceled before milepost 109,654.

A BNSF test vehicle traveling on the track on October 15 shortly before the derailment noted a “yellow tag condition that did not require immediate action,” referring to an irregularity in the rail surface that first appeared in August 2023 was discovered, investigators said.

They added that the observation does not fall under federal regulations and is part of BNSF’s internal quality control metrics.

The bridge structure was last inspected in 2021. Previous inspections in 2020 and 2019 found “old hit damage” and cracks in the bridge’s beam.

NTSB investigators also observed fractures in the rail segments collected from the site and evaluated thermite welds made by BNSF employees in 2007 and May 2023 and determined that the rail, including the older weld, “showed signs of a sudden catastrophic event.” showed failure”.

According to investigators, BNSF estimated damage to the track at a total of $10.4 million, while mechanical damage totaled more than $2.3 million.