Federal investigators find no mechanical problems with trolley that crashed in Boston

July 22nd, 2009 NTSB: Human error eyed as cause of SF train crashSAN FRANCISCO — Federal investigators say they are focusing on human error as the cause of a light-rail train crash in San Francisco that injured dozens of people after finding no indication of mechanical or systems failures. The National Transportation Safety Board said Wednesday the operator of the San Francisco Municipal Railway train in Saturday's collision told investigators he blacked out before the crash.

July 21st, 2009 2 injured women sue over Boston trolley crashBOSTON — Two women injured when a Boston subway train struck the rear of another trolley have sued the transit agency and the train operator. A lawyer for Rebecca Bishop says the Lynn woman fractured her pelvis in the May 8 crash.

July 20th, 2009 Rail operator's actions questioned in Calif. crashSAN FRANCISCO — Federal investigators are trying to find out why the operator of a San Francisco light-rail that crashed into a parked train and injured dozens of passengers had turned off the automatic controls moments before the collision.

July 20th, 2009 Union: SF train operator blacked out before crashSAN FRANCISCO — A light-rail operator blacked out just before his train crashed into a parked train, injuring dozens of passengers, the president of San Francisco's transit workers union said Monday. Union president Irwin Lum told The Associated Press a "medical condition" was to blame for the driver's loss of consciousness.

July 20th, 2009 SF train operator's actions come under scrutinySAN FRANCISCO — The operator of a light-rail train that crashed and injured dozens of passengers in San Francisco came under scrutiny Sunday as federal investigators tried to figure out why he inexplicably turned off the automatic controls moments before the collision. National Transportation Safety Board investigator Ted Turpin did not know why the operator switched the controls from automatic to manual in a tunnel near the West Portal Station.

July 20th, 2009 Boston trolley driver pleads not guilty in crashBOSTON — The former Boston subway operator who authorities say was texting during a crash that injured more than 60 people has pleaded not guilty in the case. Aiden Quinn was arraigned Monday in Suffolk Superior Court on charges of gross negligence by a person in control of a train.

July 14th, 2009 NTSB: Boston trolley in 2008 crash going too fastBOSTON — Federal investigators say a Boston trolley operator who was killed when her train rammed into another didn't heed a red warning signal and was going too fast. National Transportation Safety Board investigators say Terrese Edmonds shouldn't have been traveling more than 10 mph after pulling out of a station in suburban Newton last year.

July 14th, 2009 Sleep disorder likely factor in trolley crashWASHINGTON — A federal safety panel said Tuesday that the trolley operator who died after her train rammed another trolley in a Boston crash last year had ignored a red stop signal, likely because she suffered from an undiagnosed sleep disorder that caused her to briefly fall asleep. The finding came in the National Transportation Safety Board's final report on the May 2008 collision in suburban Newton, Mass.

July 14th, 2009 NTSB: Fatal Boston trolley crash preventableWASHINGTON — Investigators said Tuesday a fatal Boston trolley crash in May 2008 could have been prevented if an automated train control system had been in place. Trolley operator Terrese Edmonds, 24, died after her train sped through a red stop signal and rammed another in a crash in suburban Newton, Mass., that also injured seven passengers on the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's Green Line.

July 9th, 2009 NTSB: No mechanical problems in Disney monorailORLANDO, Fla. — Federal investigators are focusing on why a switch failed to change positions in the monorail crash that killed an operator at Walt Disney World over the weekend.

July 1st, 2009 SANA'A - The Yemen Airways plane that crashed off the Comoros islands with 153 people on board did not issue a distress signal or report any mechanical problems, a company official said Wednesday. "Aviation authorities in the Comoros informed us that the Moroni Airport control did not receive a distress signal from the pilot," Hassan al-Houthi, head of the technical department of the Yemenia told reporters in Sana'a.

June 26th, 2009 Plane that crashed in Ariz., killing 4, had drugsAUSTIN, Texas — Authorities say a private plane that crashed in Arizona this week, killing four people, carried more than 12 pounds of marijuana and a large amount of cash in a suitcase. Cmdr. Bob Sutton of the Navajo County, Ariz., Sheriff's Office tells the Austin American-Statesman in Texas that the drugs and money were in the rear of the wreckage.

May 9th, 2009 Trolleys collide in Boston; 49 people hurtBOSTON — A trolley rear-ended another trolley that was stopped between two underground stations in downtown Boston on Friday night, injuring about 50 people, and one of the conductors told police he was texting at the time of the crash, officials said. About 100 people were evacuated, and 49 were taken to area hospitals, but officials said their injuries did not appear to be life-threatening.

May 9th, 2009 Trolleys crash in Boston; dozens of people hurtBOSTON — Two trolleys have crashed between underground stations in downtown Boston, and dozens of people are reported injured. But Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority spokesman Joe Pesaturo says none of the injuries appears to be life-threatening.

May 9th, 2009 Trolleys collide in Boston; 46 people hurtBOSTON — A trolley rear-ended another trolley that was stopped between two underground stations in downtown Boston on Friday night, injuring about 50 people, and one of the conductors told police he was texting at the time of the crash, officials said. About 100 people were evacuated, and 46 were taken to area hospitals, but officials said their injuries did not appear to be life-threatening.