NTSB report on Manhattan subway crash cites communication, disabled brakes

An out-of-service subway train that collided with a passenger train with about 200 people aboard earlier this month had a supervisor who missed an instruction to halt and had several emergency brakes disabled because of an unruly passenger who had previously been on board, according to a preliminary report released Thursday from the National Transportation Safety Board.

The track around the 96th Street station in Manhattan had “trip-stops” that could have triggered the train’s emergency brakes on Jan. 4, the report said. But an inspector had disabled the brakes on the out-of-service train’s first five railcars so that it could be moved for repairs.

New York City Transit President Richard Davey said at a Thursday press conference that he believes the NTSB’s factual findings in the report are “beyond dispute” at this point.

“We're still working with them to determine sort of the root cause and then, more importantly, recommendations to implement in the future to make sure that doesn't happen again,” he said.

The report, which could change, gave a detailed timeline that led up to the collision around 3 p.m. that left about 22 riders and three crew members with minor injuries.

The train that was out of service at the time of the crash earlier had passengers — one of whom was unruly and pulled the emergency brake cords on the first five railcars around 2:11 p.m., the report said. The train’s operator could not reset the emergency braking system, and offloaded passengers at the 79th Street station, putting the train in out-of-service status.

The inspector, on instructions from the operations control center, cut out the brakes and traction motors for the five railcars at the front of the train, and it began moving at a restricted speed toward the 96th Street station, the report said. 

A flagger was in the lead railcar and was speaking with the transit system supervisor, who was operating the sixth railcar's control, the report said.

But the flagger later told the NTSB that he lost communications with that supervisor around the 96th Street station. The supervisor did not get the flagger’s calls to halt, the report said. The train passed a stop signal “at the end of the 96th Street Station platform.”

The two trains then collided.

Davey said that it is not uncommon for New York City Transit to have a setup where a car with disabled emergency brakes is operated in the center, with another worker watching from the front.

He believes the subway does that “about 10-12 times a week, certainly in the last year,” he said. “And we've done it without any fanfare.”

The trains did not have recording devices, including cameras, according to the NTSB report, which also noted the investigation is ongoing.

The future investigation will focus on several of New York City Transit's operating procedures, including radio communication and mechanical procedures when moving out-of-service cars, the report said.

By Tiffany Cusaac-Smith

tiffany.cusaac-smith@newsday.com@T_Cusaac

Tiffany Cusaac-Smith is a general assignment reporter for Newsday. She previously worked at USA TODAY and is an alum of Howard University.