Worst accident in history caused by texting?

[omad]

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Now wait a second...just wait a friggin' second...

...you're actually thinking...unfriggingbelievably thinking...that the article is saying/implying "Texting causes Train Crash"... *jaw drops to the floor and fragments into a zillion pieces*

it's actually not me alone who thought "texting" may have caused the accident, here's an article by ABC NEWS on how the National Transportation Safety Board is seeking the phone records in LA train crash:
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NTSB to Seek Cell Phone Records in LA Train Crash

Feds seek phone records in probe of text messages as possible factor in deadly LA train crash.

By MICHAEL R. BLOOD Associated Press Writer
LOS ANGELES September 14, 2008 (AP)
The Associated Press

The investigation into what caused the worst train crash in 15 years begins. Federal investigators say they will seek the cell phone records of two teenagers and a train engineer as they probe whether text messages factored into a fiery commuter train crash that killed 25 in Southern California.

Kitty Higgins, a board member for the National Transportation Safety Board, says her agency is also talking with the two teens and their families. The teens told KCBS-TV that they received a text message from the engineer at 4:22 p.m. Friday, just moments before the deadly crash.

Higgins says that the engineer's cell phone was not recovered at the crash site Sunday. She declined to say what the teens and their families have told investigators thus far. The engineer died in the wreck.

ABC News: NTSB to Seek Cell Phone Records in LA Train Crash
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And even if it DID cause the crash, the title sucks--it STILL AIN'T the "WORST Accident in History"...I can't believe you guys never even heard of Tenerife 1977.

-RODION

if it DID really cause the crash, the title would be most fitting wouldn't it?

the title is not "WORST accident in History", wherein the Tenerife Airport disaster of 1977 would certainly fit the bill. we're talking about the texting, SMS, celphone era here. why did you ommit "caused by texting"? was it intentional on your part or you just missed it entirely?

now tell me, where there celphones in 1977 or better yet, was texting the norm in that era?

before your emotions take over your senses... read the topic carefully, understand what it means and if you think there is another accident "hypothetically" caused by texting worse than this then tell us and we'll gladly hear you out.

For the love of hoolahoops....you people actually think running a train is like driving a car?
*shakes head* Now I know why this country's going down the drain.

which country are you referring to? for sure not everybody from the NTSB and the Feds are Filipinos.

now tell me, why again is this country (Philippines) going down the drain?

I'll give you a hint: nobody understands and analyzes carefully what they read anymore. sad, right?

[potterboy]

hehehe, entertaining thread.

and i like the simulations.

[omad]

My point is, unless the cause of the crash is directly linked to the texting, this sort of rumour mongering is irresponsible.

ok. so the NTSB is now irresponsible... tsk tsk tsk... what's up with all these speculations you rumor-mongering Feds stop investigating the "texting" angle, it's not fair.

When the Air Philippines B737 crash on Samal island happened a few years ago, everyone from the pilots to Davao ATC was blamed, even some air traffic controllers sa Davao tower hapit na mabuang and nag-resign nalang tungod sa pressure, kay ginablame daw sila sa relatives sa passengers, nga wala pa gani ang result sa imbestigasyon. Looy intawon sa mga wala'y labot--eventually it was found out that it was caused by pilot error. So I highly suggest that mere speculation should be stopped in fairness to the actual investigation and result of the investigation.

NTSB is not the media, they're not related to the victims nor they're the public at large who we can say are speculating on this issue. they're the ones doing the investigation which is leaning into the possibility that "texting" greatly contributed to this accident.

again the comparison between Air Philippines plane crash / Metrolink train crash and the resulting "blaming brouhaha" that ensued are two very different and distinct incidents. one had media, relatives and the public blaming the pilots, air traffic controllers and just about everybody they can get their hands into while on the other hand, the NTSB is focusing their investigation on the "texting" angle.

what's so similar about the two that needs comparison?

and before we all forget: no matter how we in iSTORYA "speculate and blame" the engineer for "texting while on duty", his relatives, friends and all workers of Metrolink (Los Angeles, California) won't even know we (iSTORYANS) exist. what's so irresponsible about that anyway that we (iSTORYANS) will cause those workers to resign from their jobs because of pressure?

funny how you're talking about us as a country going down the drain and everything. yet, here we are (iSTORYANS) having a discussion halfway around the globe from where the accident happened and you're thinking our rumor mongering and irresponsibility in this forum might actually cause the Metrolink employees to resign from their job because of pressure.

ironic isn't it?

And I invite you to try TRAINZ 2006 ( Trainz - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ) I'm a regular user of this Train simulator, so I know that even if that guy was doing any texting, there are a lot of safeguards and failsafes to prevent such an incident from happening. The United States have been running trains across their country for over 100 years, and thus their system of monitoring and safeguarding against such incidents have been fine tuned to a degree unheard of even in our own country--such a collapse of a fail-safe system could only imply a catastrophic/massive multiple-failure at several points along the system, which more possible than not, not even a simple "glancing down" by an Engineer due to a text message can contribute to.

-RODION

failsafes, monitoring and safeguarding you say?

Higgins even admitted that "the crash could have been prevented with technology that stops a train on the track when a signal is disobeyed. The technology was not in place where the collision occurred."

so if the failsafe technology that safeguards, monitors and double checks the system was not in place where the collision occured and the lives of all the passengers of the train were left in the hands of the engineer; what then would be the result if those very same hands were holding a celfone and texting away while the train was running 42mph on a stop zone?

your guess is as good as mine....
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NTSB investigators said Sunday that the train failed to stop at the final red signal, which forced the train onto a track at 42 mph where the Union Pacific freight was traveling in the opposite direction, agency board member Kitty Higgins said at a news conference.


Higgins said she believed the crash could have been prevented with technology that stops a train on the track when a signal is disobeyed. The technology was not in place where the collision occurred.


"I believe this technology could have prevented the accident. If he ran the signal the train would have been stopped. I've seen it tested. It makes a difference," she said.


Feds look into texting before L.A. train crash - USATODAY.com
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[rodsky]

ok. so the NTSB is now irresponsible... tsk tsk tsk... what's up with all these speculations you rumor-mongering Feds stop investigating the "texting" angle, it's not fair.

NTSB is not the media, they're not related to the victims nor they're the public at large who we can say are speculating on this issue. they're the ones doing the investigation which is leaning into the possibility that "texting" greatly contributed to this accident.

again the comparison between Air Philippines plane crash / Metrolink train crash and the resulting "blaming brouhaha" that ensued are two very different and distinct incidents. one had media, relatives and the public blaming the pilots, air traffic controllers and just about everybody they can get their hands into while on the other hand, the NTSB is focusing their investigation on the "texting" angle.

what's so similar about the two that needs comparison?

and before we all forget: no matter how we in iSTORYA "speculate and blame" the engineer for "texting while on duty", his relatives, friends and all workers of Metrolink (Los Angeles, California) won't even know we (iSTORYANS) exist. what's so irresponsible about that anyway that we (iSTORYANS) will cause those workers to resign from their jobs because of pressure?

funny how you're talking about us as a country going down the drain and everything. yet, here we are (iSTORYANS) having a discussion halfway around the globe from where the accident happened and you're thinking our rumor mongering and irresponsibility in this forum might actually cause the Metrolink employees to resign from their job because of pressure.

ironic isn't it?

failsafes, monitoring and safeguarding you say?

Higgins even admitted that "the crash could have been prevented with technology that stops a train on the track when a signal is disobeyed. The technology was not in place where the collision occurred."

so if the failsafe technology that safeguards, monitors and double checks the system was not in place where the collision occured and the lives of all the passengers of the train were left in the hands of the engineer; what then would be the result if those very same hands were holding a celfone and texting away while the train was running 42mph on a stop zone?

your guess is as good as mine....
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NTSB investigators said Sunday that the train failed to stop at the final red signal, which forced the train onto a track at 42 mph where the Union Pacific freight was traveling in the opposite direction, agency board member Kitty Higgins said at a news conference.


Higgins said she believed the crash could have been prevented with technology that stops a train on the track when a signal is disobeyed. The technology was not in place where the collision occurred.


"I believe this technology could have prevented the accident. If he ran the signal the train would have been stopped. I've seen it tested. It makes a difference," she said.


Feds look into texting before L.A. train crash - USATODAY.com
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Yes, I owe you an apology Omad, I truly got a bit emotionally carried away when I made that post. I guess I should do more careful reading from now on.

The reports from the NTSB I believe, still could have been somewhat filtered, because we all know how the media tends to blow up issues into a more "tabloidized" format.

Basically, I guess the reason for my over-reaction was because I didn't want to see a slew of "Grabe, texting dyud ang naka-cause" when the investigation isn't even over yet, and for that yearning and concern, I guess I went overboard.

Again, sincere apologies.

-RODION

[cosplay]

I like reading this thread. Anyways, bottom line is do not make a FINAL judgment and CONCLUSION WITHOUT any concrete basis. This will just void it in the long run. Try to be open-minded on the issue.

@rod
Yeah, and I agree when you said "because I didn't want to see a slew of "Grabe, texting dyud ang naka-cause" when the investigation isn't even over yet".. Correk ka dyan!~ ...

[journeyman]

I guess in the end they'll still put the blame to the engr. There's a saying that says; "blame it to the dead, because they'll never complain"

[menamejido]

maypa mag sun nlng mo..kay aron tawagan nalng kung mag drive ka...kai maka drive paman ghapon ka ana noh ?!haha

[pulsemargot89]

tsk.. tsk..tsk.. just because of text....