Investigators have determined a basic timeline and new details in the CSX train crash that sent a shockwave through the Baltimore region Tuesday afternoon, Robert Sumwalt, a board member on the National Transportation Safety Board, said Wednesday.
The board has examined extensive surveillance footage of the crash as well as physical evidence as cleanup continued into Wednesday evening.
Read:Freight Train-Truck Collision Causes Explosion, Shuts Down Area East of Baltimore
Sumwalt said the board was looking for more video footage from witnesses that could potentially aid the investigation. Anyone with potentially helpful photographs or video is asked to email NTSB at Witness@NTSB.gov.
“Although we’ve made tremendous progress today I want to emphasize that we’re very early into the investigation. ... There is a lot to be done,” Sumwalt said, addressing the media at a press conference in White Marsh Wednesday.
Emergency responders were dispatched to the 7500 block of Lake Drive in Rosedale Tuesday on alert of a derailed train that collided with a 2003 Mack Granite truck, driven by Essex resident John J. Alban Jr. Fourteen train cars were carrying payload—four of which contained hazardous materials. Three of the four cars carrying hazardous materials were derailed, Sumwalt said.
“Let me paint a picture for you about what happened,” Sumwalt said. “Seventeen seconds prior to the collision, the first of three train horn blasts begins. The third blast lasts right up to the point of the impact."
The front of the truck became visible on video surveillance cameras at about 5 seconds before collision, he said. Three seconds prior to the collision, the truck began to cross the tracks.
“At impact the train strikes the right wheel tandem axle of the truck,” Sumwalt said.
Alban became trapped in his truck for a period of time following the crash.
Thirty-three second after the crash, the first sign of smoke became visible. First flames were noticed on video in 43 seconds.
The train was carrying sodium chlorate in one of the cars. Sumwalt said the fire and subsequent explosion was caused by the sodium chlorate, which was housed in a covered hopper car.
Then came the explosion—5 minutes and 23 seconds after the crash. The explosion echoed across Baltimore, stretching to Harford County.
The train, which entered emergency mode 4,244 feet ahead of the crossing, was traveling 49 mph, Sumwalt said. Further investigation will yield just how fast Alban was traveling at the time of the collision, Sumwalt said.
Additionally, it is too early for NTSB to speculate about the cause of the accident, Sumwalt said.
Alban, a former firefighter and current owner of Alban Waste LLC, was transporting a roll-off container from his business’s facility to a site about six miles away.
The train crossing at Lake Drive is marked by stop signs in either direction and a railroad crossing sign, although the crossing “did not have gates, lights or bells,” Sumwalt said.
“I was there at the crossing earlier today; as you come around the curve it straightens out very quickly,” Sumwalt added. “Tomorrow we will be documenting and measuring and sketching out what the grade crossing looked liked.”
Related: PHOTOS: Scenes of Near Disaster from Train Derailment in Rosedale