The National Transportation Safety board is concluding that the Amtrak conductor who fell from a train in Westerly last year used an emergency release to open a door while the train was moving.
Emily Herrera of Plainville, Massachusetts was killed in the incident in January of 2022.
"We determined that the probable cause of the January 15, 2022, conductor fatality was the conductor’s fall from an open side passenger door on Amtrak train while moving at 40 mph. Contributing to the accident was (1) the conductor’s use of the side passenger emergency door release to open a rail car door and Amtrak’s accepted practice of allowing side doors to be opened on approach to stations to allow crew members to monitor the platform," according to a statement.
A policy change was made, and Amtrak no longer allows employees to open the side passenger doors while the train is in motion.
(Photo credit PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP via Getty Images)
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