PLAINTIFFS: AMTRAK REPORT WON'T AFFECT DERAILMENT SUIT
Jun 23, 1994
The Journal of Commerce
Plaintiffs: Amtrak Report Won't Affect Derailment Suit
By Margo D. Beller
Journal of Commerce Staff
The National Transportation Safety Board's final report on last year's
Amtrak derailment in Mobile, Ala., will have little effect on a lawsuit
filed in federal court on behalf of crash survivors and the relatives
of the 47 people killed in the worst accident in the railroad's history.
Gregory Breedlove, a partner with the Cunningham, Bounds law firm in Mobile,
said the safety board's findings, released Tuesday, support the plaintiffs'
contention that barge owner Warrior & Gulf, Amtrak and CSX, the owner
of the ridge where the Amtrak train derailed, were at fault.
Three engines and two passenger cars of Amtrak's Sunset Limited fell
into the bayou last Sept. 22 when the seven-car train rumbled onto the
bridge at 72 mph shortly after the Warrior & Gulf tug Mauvilla crashed
into the bridge while pushing barges in dense fog. About half of the 500-
foot-long bridge collapsed.
Several survivors, rescuers and crewmembers of the ill-fated towboat testified
at a hearing last year in Mobile.
Tuesday's NTSB ruling is "not binding on any judge or jury but
is certainly indicative of the facts of the case," said Mr. Breedlove,
who represents 20 of the individual plaintiffs and is co-lead counsel
with two other attorneys for the Plaintiff Steering Committee.
Those injured and the dependents of those killed when the train fell into
the Big Bayou Canot filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Southern
District of Alabama for an unspecified amount of damages. The case is
scheduled to be heard before Judge Richard Vollmer in December.
''We find it significant the NTSB said CSX and Amtrak have role
in this as well," Mr. Breedlove said. "There is no question
Warrior & Gulf is guilty of negligence."
Broox Holmes Sr., Warrior & Gulf's attorney, said the NTSB findings
would have no effect on its defense against the plaintiffs, nor on its
separate litigation against CSX and Amtrak to contribute to paying any
claims against the barge company.
''These cases will be decided by a jury in a court, not by an
agency of the government," Mr. Holmes said. "Lawsuits are not
based on the findings of a report, but on evidence."
Mr. Holmes said Warrior & Gulf already has implemented a formal radar
training program for its tug and barge operators. The NTSB had recommended
the company implement a "recognized training course" on river
radar navigation, equipping all towboats with a compass and up-to-date
navigation charts and procedures for towboat operators to inform management
when they are taking medication.
While the NTSB had been studying whether the tugboat pilot's diabetes
medication affected his operation of the vessel, it found this was not
a factor in the accident.