An engineer-in-training with only three days at the throttle and failing test scores drove the Amtrak train that crashed in 1990 at Boston's Back Bay Station, injuring 453 people, federal investigators say.
Findings issued Tuesday by the National Transportation Safety Board blamed engineer error - but also Amtrak's system that put a trainee at the controls - for the accident. The crash took place during the morning of Dec. 12, 1990, when Amtrak's Night Owl from Washington derailed, crashing into a crowded commuter train.The NTSB investigation found that engineer-trainee Richard Abramson was allowed to operate the train even though he had scored only 54 out of 100 on his train-operation exam. The minimum passing grade is an 85. The accident occurred on his third and final day of training on an actual passenger train.
With Willis Copeland, his engineer instructor, standing behind him, Abramson accelerated the Amtrak train to 109 mph moments before entering the 30-mph zone approaching the station.
The NTSB investigation showed that the brakes were applied 5.75 seconds before the accident, slowing the train to 76 mph. The curved track leading into Back Bay Station was rated to hold a train going no faster than 59 mph.
The board's chief investigator, Russell Gober, said Abramson may have been under pressure to become a full-fledged engineer.
"In our interviews, he told us he didn't feel he was qualified and he felt very stressed that he was being pressed by the management to advance at a faster pace than he was ready," Gober said.