The National Transportation Security Board (NTSB) on Thursday issued an initial report on the Norfolk Southern train carrying toxic chemicals that derailed in East Palestine, sparking a fire and sending contaminants into the air and water.
The report, which is preliminary and subject to change as investigators deepen their probe, suggests that blame for the accident lies in a wheel bearing that severely overheated before the train went off the rails.
The crew operating the freight train did not receive a critical warning about the overheated axle until moments before the derailment, the report states.
After getting a “critical audible alarm message” from the wayside defect detector—or hot bearing detector (HBD)—instructing the crew to stop the train to inspect a hot axle, the engineer slowed and stopped the train….