Railroad Accident Brief: Collision of Two Union Pacific Railroad Freight Trains, Texarkana, Arkansas, October 15, 2005

At 4:56 a.m., central daylight time, on October 15, 2005, westbound Union Pacific Railroad (UP) train ZYCLD 13 collided with the rear of standing UP train MPBHG 15 in the UP rail yard in Texarkana, Arkansas. The collision resulted in the puncture of a railroad tank car containing propylene, a compressed flammable gas. The propylene was heavier than air and flowed near the ground into a nearby neighborhood. The flowing gas reached a house where an unknown ignition source ignited the gas, and the house exploded. The single occupant was killed. The fire moved quickly along the flowing gas back to the punctured tank car. A second, unoccupied, home was destroyed in the fire, and a wooden railroad trestle burned completely. Approximately 3,000 residents within a 1-mile radius of the punctured tank car were advised to evacuate the area. The two crews and the employees working at the Texarkana yard were not injured, and they evacuated the area safely. Between 5:00 a.m. and 7:00 a.m., the wind was calm, the visibility was 10 miles, and the temperature was approximately 59° F. Total damage was $2.4 million, including $325,975 in equipment damage and $2,053,198 in track damage. The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the October 15, 2005, collision was the failure of the crew of train ZYCLD 13 to remain attentive and alert and thereby able to stop short of an observable standing train. Contributing to the severity of the accident was the puncture of a tank car during the collision, which resulted in the release of propylene and a fire.

• Record URL:
  • http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/RAB0604.pdf
• 
• Summary URL:
  • http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Pages/RAB0604.aspx
• Corporate Authors:

  National Transportation Safety Board

  490 L'Enfant Plaza, SW
  Washington, DC  United States  20594
• Publication Date: 2006-10-17

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Features: Figures;
• Pagination: 14p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Crash causes; Crash investigation; Disasters and emergency operations; Emergency management; Explosions; Hazardous materials; Railroad crashes; Railroad safety
• Subject Areas: Railroads; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01139216
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: NTSB/RAB-06/04
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Aug 31 2009 9:25AM