A manufacturer that was assisting the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in the investigation of a train derailment was kicked from the inspection after releasing unconfirmed information.
National Steel Car was assisting NTSB investigators at the Norfolk Southern Railway train derailment near Springfield, Ohio. The NTSB said the company released information that hadn’t been “fully vetted or confirmed by the NTSB.”
Company issued press release exonerating suspect parts
The company issued a press release on April 14 that states, “We are very pleased indeed that the cancellation of AAR EI-0033 completely exonerates National, in all respects, regarding this derailment.”
This refers to an investigation into the steel coil wheelsets the company manufactures and that were used on the train involved in the March 4 derailment.
However, in a letter NTSB issued to the company Investigator James Southworth points out that the NTSB hadn’t yet “ruled out the role that the wheelsets may have played.”
NTSB party system information constraints were violated
The NTSB uses a party system as part of its investigative process “which allows the sharing of factual investigative information during the early phases of an investigation” that “ensures a party to an investigation has sufficient information to take any immediate actions necessary to ensure safety.”
This information comes with constraints “to prevent the uncoordinated release” of details. If those constraints are breached, the offending party could be removed from the investigation.
“Uncoordinated releases of information by parties to an investigation does not achieve transparency and does not further transportation safety or serve the public interest, rather, they only meet a party’s self-interests,” according to the NTSB.