Spanish Train Crash

[ToraToraTora]

78 dead, doing twice the speed limit round a bend. All so preventable what was the driver thinking?

[Ratty2E]

I was shocked when I heard that his morning, but do we know that there wasn't some kind of mechanical malfunction. I don't think we should blame anyone for the sad death of so many people till we know exactly what happened.

[sunny-dave]

Ghastly crash - but no conclusive evidence that it was Driver Error other than the (possibly mis-translated) expression of regret from someone in the driver's cab.

Could have been a malfunction of train systems or signalling.

[Gromit]

They have not analysed the black box so it is too early to blame the driver.

[kylesmum]

Food for thought, he might have taken ill prior to the accident, the 'dead mans handle/switch' isn't fail safe, nothing is really, sadly.

[thumper93]

yes i think the driver must have had a sudden health problem no one would approach a bend at twice its set speed, rememberer the dreadful moorgate crash ,the driver had a health problem there,at least thats all the inquest could assume, both terrible tragedies

[piggynose]

yes its very sad, we had on the telly last night, very graphic images, typical of spanish news reporting, lots of corpses wrapped in blankets.I had to turn it off.

[FredPuli43]

Yes, the railways expert on TV was saying that it is quite likely that there was a failure of the safety system which signals to the driver that the train must not exceed "50 mph", 80km/h, on that stretch. It is not necessarily simple driver error that is the cause.

Still feel safer in a train than a car or plane though.

[ToraToraTora]

anyone know if the driver survived?

[jim360]

At least one of the drivers did survive, according to the BBC article.

[Baldric]

Twice?
Just said on the News, Limit was 80, train was doing 100.

[ToraToraTora]

They said twice on News24 this morning, I'd be surprised if the limit was 80 on that bend.

[Octavius]

"The president of railway firm Renfe, Julio Gomez Pomar, has said the train in the crash had no technical problems. "The train had passed an inspection that same morning. Those trains are inspected every 7,500km... Its maintenance record was perfect,""

Report goes on to say that "one" of the drivers has survived and it was he who said they were going too fast 118 over 80.

We'll just have to wait and see.

[Gromit]

There were two drivers in the cab of the train and both survived. The driver was said to be roaming the wreckage murmuring, "I've rolled the train".

[Baldric]

Just quoting what they said!

[mushroom25]

http://elpais.com/elpais/2013/07/25/videos/1374749180_392391.html?autoplay=1

WARNING - Graphic Content.

[nannybooby]

so sad this is a place of pilgrimage and today is St.James's day.

[Octavius]

mushroom, that turns the stomach

[boxtops]

the limits I heard were 90 kph and the train was at 198 kph.... but speculation, no doubt.

I wonder if he had a heart attack - would activating the Dead Man's Handle on the driver dashboard cause the train to lurch? I thought the DMH was standard on all trains, so the train stopped if the driver took off the pressure on the handle.

[ToraToraTora]

just watched mushrooms video it looks like it's doing about 100mph but it can be deceptive.

[carolegif]

On that part of the track, the speed limit is halved with very little time in which to slow down. Also, it is just as the trains exit a tunnel, so visibility ahead is limited. Apparently local people and drivers had concerns about it.
The driver is reported to have admitted he was going too fast and he hoped he hadn't killed anyone.
A terrible tragedy on the day before the festival of Santiago (St James to us).