CAREY, Ohio (AP) - The operator of a freight train was impaired by alcohol when he blew through a stop signal and collided with another train, causing 25 cars to derail, federal investigators said.
The CSX train’s engineer had a blood-alcohol level that was nearly triple the 0.04 percent limit set by federal regulations for railroad crews, the National Transportation Safety Board announced Tuesday.
The engineer, whose name was not released in the report, had a blood-alcohol level of 0.115 percent six hours after the crash in August 2019.
The investigation largely blamed the engineer for the crash in Wyandot County, but it also pointed toward a loophole in a railroad safety system that failed to stop the train.
“Fortunately, nobody was killed or seriously injured in this accident, although they could have been,” said Robert Sumwalt, the NTSB’s chairman.
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