2 Postaccident Actions
2.1 NTSB Recommendations
The engineer's inability to report what happened in the moments before the accident presented a challenge to investigators. Inward-facing audio and image recorders in the cab would have provided important information in this case—and many others—to assist investigators in understanding what happened. Such cameras are installed on some trains and have assisted the NTSB in recent investigations. As a result, on July 8, 2015, the NTSB issued the following recommendations to Amtrak:
R-15-28
Install, in all controlling locomotive cabs and cab car operating compartments, crash- and fire-protected inward-and outward-facing audio and image recorders capable of providing recordings to verify that train crew actions are in accordance with rules and procedures that are essential to safety as well as train operating conditions. The devices should have a minimum 12-hour continuous recording capability with recordings that are easily accessible for review, with appropriate limitations on public release, for the investigation of accidents or for use by management in carrying out efficiency testing and systemwide performance monitoring programs
R-15-29
Semi-annually, issue a public report detailing Amtrak's progress in installing crash- and fire-protected inward- and outward-facing audio and image recorders. The report should include the number of locomotives and cab car operating compartments that have been equipped with the recorders, as well as the number of locomotives and cab car operating compartments in Amtrak's fleet that still lack those devices
R-15-30
Regularly review and use in-cab audio and image recordings in conjunction with other performance data to verify crewmember actions are in accordance with rules and procedures that are essential to safety.
In a letter dated March 10, 2016, Amtrak reported that it had installed inward-facing video cameras meeting the specifications in the recommendation on its current fleet of 57 ACS-64 locomotives and that it continues to install them throughout the fleet. Amtrak stated it was planning to install crash-hardened units incorporating event recorders on its fleet and would release another installation progress report in October 2016. Amtrak also stated it had developed a policy for the use of data obtained by inward- and outward-facing audio and image recorders. On the basis of this response, recommendations R-15-28 through -30 are classified "Open—Acceptable Response."
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