AMTRAK, CSX ASK TO BE REMOVED FROM SUIT IN DEADLY 1993 TRAIN DERAILMENT
Dec 22, 1998
The Associated Press
Amtrak, CSX ask to be removed from suit in deadly 1993 train derailment
MOBILE, Ala. -- With trial set for February, Amtrak and CSX Transportation
have asked a federal judge to remove them as defendants in a cluster of
lawsuits suits stemming from a 1993 train derailment that killed 47 people
in a dark, remote bayou.
Attorneys filed motions Monday contending the train and railroad companies
were not to blame for the disaster, the deadliest accident in Amtrak history.
But lawyers who filed wrongful death and personal injury claims in the
case said victims and their families should be able to try Amtrak and
CSX for failing to take steps that might have prevented the accident.
"They are attempting to deprive the families of victims the right
to have a jury decide this case," said plaintiffs' lawyer Greg
Breedlove.
The derailment occurred before dawn on Sept. 22, 1993, when a tow-boat
pilot got lost in dense fog and plowed a barge into a railroad bridge
on a bayou north of Mobile. A few minutes later, the Amtrak passenger
train Sunset Limited, with 210 passengers aboard, hit the bent tracks
and plunged into the murky bayou. Forty-two passengers and five crew members
died, many drowning in a submerged train car.
More than 100 suits were filed against Amtrak, CSX and Warrior & Gulf
Navigation. CSX owns the bridge, while Warrior & Gulf owned the tow
boat Mauvilla that crashed the barge into the bridge.
Mauvilla's pilot, Willie Odom, and captain, Andrew Stabler, were also
named as defendants. Odom was piloting the boat at the time of the accident
while Stabler was off duty and asleep.
Many of the lawsuits were settled, with the remaining cases consolidated
into one scheduled to be heard by U.S. District Judge Richard Vollmer.
Family members of 42 victims are suing Amtrak and CSX for wrongful death
after settling with Warrior & Gulf. Seventeen other plaintiffs are
bringing personal-injury claims against all three companies.
Opposing the motions to release Amtrak and CSX from the case, plaintiffs'
attorneys argue that CSX should have had lights and other safety features
in place to prevent barge collisions.
But CSX contends the Coast Guard never ordered additional safety features
because an accident like this one couldn't have been predicted. Built
in 1882, the bridge had been hit by boats three other times before 1993,
but the Coast Guard doesn't consider that part of the bayou to be
a navigable waterway.
Amtrak argues that it only uses the bridge, along with several other
trains, and can't be held liable for its construction.
The trial is expected to last about a month.
Courts have ruled in the past year that the damage suits are governed
by federal maritime law rather than Alabama's more lenient wrongful
death statute, making it much harder for those bringing suit to win punitive
damages in addition to any compensatory damages.