An interesting side story to the tragic train crash in the LA area last week. According to the Wall Street Journal, the spokeswoman for Metrolink (the rail agency that manages and runs the train involved) has resigned. Why? Because she spoke the truth and spoke it too soon. It seems as though the NTSB has put some pressure on Metrolink regarding its investigation of the accident. Ms. Tyrrell, the spokeswoman at the center of the controversy, apparently spilled the beans too early confessing that the engineer had missed a red signal light warning the train to stop. I guess that government bureaucrats want their face time unfettered. According to the article:
At a Sunday evening briefing, the NTSB confirmed the Metrolink engineer ran through a red signal, which led to the collision. The engineer was killed in the accident. The safety agency is investigating reports that in the minutes before the crash, the engineer was exchanging text messages with a few teenage railroad enthusiasts nearby.
So was the NTSB simply smarting because THEY didn’t get a chance to be the ones to break the news? Or was the actual investigation seriously jeopardized by Ms. Tyrrell’s statement? Seems to me that the cause of the accident was pretty evident as soon as it happened.
