Ohio Train Derailment Investigation Finds Overheated Wheel Bearing

According to news sources, the “preventable” and “traumatic” derailment of a train carrying dangerous chemicals in Ohio can be traced to an overheated wheel bearing, which was 253 degrees hotter than the air temperature, National Transportation Safety Board officials said Thursday.

The NTSB released a preliminary report offering clues about what most likely caused the 150-car Norfolk Southern Railway train to crash in East Palestine, just west of the Pennsylvania state line, on Feb. 3. NTSB Chairperson Jennifer Homendy also announced that the board will hold an investigatory field hearing in the East Palestine area in the spring, in addition to its customary full meeting in Washington, D.C.

“We don’t usually have investigative [field] hearings, but we believe that it will be helpful in getting more factual information and getting buy-in on change that will be needed,” Homendy said in an interview after a news conference.

“I think the community deserves to hear some of the answers, and having it there will allow them to see and hear what is being said,” she said.

According to the NTSB report, a defect detector built into the railway transmitted an alarm message to the train’s crew after it recorded that the temperature of a wheel bearing on the 23rd car was 253 degrees Fahrenheit above the ambient temperature. Anything over 170 degrees requires the engineer to stop the train, according to Norfolk Southern’s policies. The engineer hit the brakes, but before the train came to a full stop, the 23rd car derailed, taking others with it, and an automatic emergency break kicked in.

After that, “the crew observed fire and smoke and notified the Cleveland East dispatcher of a possible derailment,” the report said.

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