O'Hare station train crash

train crash at Chicago O'Hare Airport in March 2014

On March 24, 2014, a Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) Blue Line passenger train overran the bumper at the station at the O'Hare International Airport, injuring 34 people.[1] The accident caused $11,196,796 in damage.[2]

The Blue Line train after the crash

A spokesman stated that it was likely that the train entered the station at too high a speed.[3] It was later estimated that the train entered the station at 25 to 26 miles per hour (40 to 42 km/h), which was not an excessive speed.[4] At least 50 firefighters and paramedics attended the accident.[5]

The derailed train was removed from the station on March 27, 2014, three days after the accident.[6] The station reopened on March 30, 2014. The escalator damaged in the crash was replaced by stairs.[7]

The cause of the accident was that the train operator, 25-year-old Brittney Tysheka Haywood,[8] fell asleep at the controls. She lost her job as a result of the crash.[9]

As a direct consequence of the accident, the CTA reduced the speed limit into the O'Hare station from 25 miles per hour (40 km/h) to 15 miles per hour (24 km/h). The area of the speed limit was also extended away from the station.[10]

References

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  1. "Board Meeting : Chicago Transit Authority Train Collides with Bumping Post and Escalator at O'Hare Station". National Transportation Safety Board. Retrieved April 21, 2015.
  2. Esposito, Stefano; Rossi, Rosalind; Owen, Jordan; Slefo, George P. "Blue Line train derails at O'Hare, climbs up escalator; 32 hurt". Chicago Sun Times. Retrieved March 24, 2014.
  3. "Chicago airport train derailment injures 32". BBC News Online. Retrieved March 24, 2014.
  4. Esposito, Stefano. "'Automatic stop' kicked in before CTA train crashed at O'Hare". Chicago Sun Times. Retrieved March 24, 2014.
  5. Nickeas, Peter. "'I got tossed from one end of the train to the other'". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved March 24, 2014.
  6. "Derailed train removed from O'Hare, station to reopen this weekend". Chicago Sun Times. March 28, 2014. Retrieved March 31, 2014.
  7. Seidel, Jon; Charles, Sam (March 30, 2014). "Blue Line station at O'Hare, scene of derailment, reopens". Chicago Sun Times. Retrieved March 31, 2014.
  8. Goudie, Chuck. "Train operator identified in Blue Line crash". WLS-TV ABC 7. Archived from the original on April 7, 2014. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
  9. "Chicago train crash driver who 'fell asleep' is sacked". BBC News. 2014-04-05. Retrieved 2023-03-01.
  10. Esposito, Stefano; Rossi, Rosalind. "CTA operator awoke 'when she hit,' dozed off before, NTSB says". Chicago Sun Times. Retrieved March 27, 2014.