Train hits parade in Midland, 4 dead 16 injured, anyone manage to grab the audio?

[alphanovember]

DALLAS (AP) — A freight train slammed into a parade float carrying wounded veterans on Thursday, killing four people and injuring 17 others as the float tried to get through a West Texas railroad crossing on its way to an honorary banquet, authorities said.

The locomotive was sounding its horn and people were jumping off the decorated flatbed truck before the collision around 4:40 p.m. in Midland, according to witnesses and Union Pacific spokesman Tom Lange. A preliminary investigation indicates the crossing gate and lights were working, Lange said, though he didn't know if the train crew saw the float approaching.



4 dead after train crashes into Texas vets parade

Does anyone know where I can get the audio for the Midland feed during this event?

[W8RMH]

Feed Archives for: Midland City Fire and EMS

Feed Archives for: Midland City Police

Feed Archives for: Midland Co. Sheriff

Great listening, thanks for the tip.....you too can listen with a premium membership.

Hear Fire and EMS setting up triage, Police calling for EMS and trying to stop the train, and Sheriff units assisting and closing roads.

[KD2DLL]

So terrible. Have been listening to the archives for a while now. So sad. Prayers go out to all of those involved.

I heard them call a "Code 1000" What does this mean? Just curious exactly what it means in this jurisdiction. Have to give props to the emergency crews. They sure sounded prepared for such an incident. Very organized.

[gr8rcall]

Yeah, that's awful.
Really, Really, Really bad....
I can see what you are saying about organization!

They talk about a "confirmed" Code 1000.
Considering that they had 2 DOA's,
I would assume that Code 1000 means DOA.

[blantonl]

What time did the incident occur?

[gr8rcall]

Lindsay,
It occurred at around 4:38 PM Central Time, on the 15th.
Archives are in the links above!

[blantonl]

I'm making this publicly available.

Midland Incident

4:38 CST on 11/15

Midland City Police
http://areg.radioreference.com/20121...845551-953.mp3

Midland City Fire and EMS
Starts at the mark 13:30
http://areg.radioreference.com/20121...6985-12199.mp3

Note: You are free to share, remix, and make commercial use of RadioReference.com's audio feed archives as long as you attribute the work to RadioReference.com. We suggest "Audio Provided by RadioReference.com" as a proper attribution in your works. Our audio feed archives are governed by the Creative Commons License listed below:

Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 United States — CC BY 3.0

[KD2DLL]

Originally Posted by gr8rcall

Yeah, that's awful.
Really, Really, Really bad....
I can see what you are saying about organization!

They talk about a "confirmed" Code 1000.
Considering that they had 2 DOA's,
I would assume that Code 1000 means DOA.

See I was either thinking DOA or MCI.

Originally Posted by blantonl

I'm making this publicly available.

Midland Incident

4:38 CST on 11/15

Midland City Police
http://areg.radioreference.com/20121...845551-953.mp3

Midland City Fire and EMS
Starts at the mark 13:30
http://areg.radioreference.com/20121...6985-12199.mp3

Note: You are free to share, remix, and make commercial use of RadioReference.com's audio feed archives as long as you attribute the work to RadioReference.com. We suggest "Audio Provided by RadioReference.com" as a proper attribution in your works. Our audio feed archives are governed by the Creative Commons License listed below:

Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 United States — CC BY 3.0

Thanks for making that publicly available. Nice for everyone to be able to hear it.

[hiegtx]

Originally Posted by gr8rcall

Yeah, that's awful.
Really, Really, Really bad....
I can see what you are saying about organization!

They talk about a "confirmed" Code 1000.
Considering that they had 2 DOA's,
I would assume that Code 1000 means DOA.

Listening to the audio, it sounds more like "Code 1000" is the signal for a Mass Casualty Incident. One of the units on the scene made the call, 'we have a Code 1000', and dispatch repeated that in sending additional units. Then, I heard another unit check enroute "to the mass casualty incident". The dispatcher had not been using that specific term (if they did, I missed it).

[gr8rcall]

Originally Posted by blantonl

I'm making this publicly available.

Midland Incident

4:38 CST on 11/15

Midland City Police
http://areg.radioreference.com/20121...845551-953.mp3

Midland City Fire and EMS
Starts at the mark 13:30
http://areg.radioreference.com/20121...6985-12199.mp3

Note: You are free to share, remix, and make commercial use of RadioReference.com's audio feed archives as long as you attribute the work to RadioReference.com. We suggest "Audio Provided by RadioReference.com" as a proper attribution in your works. Our audio feed archives are governed by the Creative Commons License listed below:

Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 United States — CC BY 3.0

Good, now the OP will get a chance to hear it.

[kf4sek]

What a terrible tragedy, that could have been completely avoided if the truck did not stop on the tracks. My thoughts and prayers are with those affected, including those who lost their lives, the affected families, the witnesses who had to view the horrible incident, and the train crew, who also had no choice but to hit the horn, press the emergency brakes, and watch as their train slammed into the tractor-trailer.

As always... train versus truck equals bad ending for everyone. Just another reminder that, even if there is no train visible, never stop on the tracks or go around the gates if they are down and the lights are flashing.

[Confuzzled]

Originally Posted by kf4sek

could have been completely avoided if the truck did not ...

... enter the crossing after the signals activated. Hopefully the truck driver will be charged with Manslaughter at least, if not higher.

[searingxheretic]

Originally Posted by Confuzzled

... enter the crossing after the signals activated. Hopefully the truck driver will be charged with Manslaughter at least, if not higher.

None of you should judge the truck driver. He was a volunteer who is also a military vet. I am sure that man feels worse about what happened than anyone. It was an accident. He didn't intend for it to happen. His own personal hell that he is living through is more than enough punishment.

As far as blame, if it must be placed...
Why didn't the event organizers report the route, had that happened trains would have been diverted or delayed.
Why, when the train was going 62mph, does the lights and gates activate only 20 seconds in advance? This is the federal minimum, but are minimums enough?

Bottom line, it was an accident, it was a tragedy.
Listening to the audio, the Midland emergency services should be commended. They sounded well organized and at no point did their comms seem chaotic.

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[Confuzzled]

Originally Posted by searingxheretic

It was an accident.


Bottom line, it was an accident,

There is no such thing when it comes to train/vehicle collisions. It is always the vehicle driver's fault. You do NOT enter tracks against a signal or when you are not CERTAIN you can clear the tracks without stopping on them. You NEVER stop where any portion of your vehicle is on the tracks.

Above all, a driver with a CDL should know this, volunteer or not.

[searingxheretic]

Originally Posted by Confuzzled

There is no such thing when it comes to train/vehicle collisions. It is always the vehicle driver's fault. You do NOT enter tracks against a signal or when you are not CERTAIN you can clear the tracks without stopping on them. You NEVER stop where any portion of your vehicle is on the tracks.

Above all, a driver with a CDL should know this, volunteer or not.

Were you there? Do you know the sight lines of the road to tracks? If so, please detail. Is it possible he entered before the signal and because he had people sitting on the bed such that he was going at a slow rate of speed? Is it possible he entered before the lights, and the gates came down onto the bed at which point he got stuck and didn't know what to do? I don't know these answers, and you don't either. Wait for the official ntsb report then judge if you must.

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[nd5y]

Originally Posted by searingxheretic

Do you know the sight lines of the road to tracks? If so, please detail

I haven't been to Midland for about 30 years. Back then it was a flat desert with no trees and you can see up and down the railroad tracks for a long distance. According to Google street view it hasn't changed.

Midland, TX - Google Maps

I have to agree with Confuzzled.

[hiegtx]

Originally Posted by searingxheretic

Were you there? Do you know the sight lines of the road to tracks? If so, please detail. Is it possible he entered before the signal and because he had people sitting on the bed such that he was going at a slow rate of speed? Is it possible he entered before the lights, and the gates came down onto the bed at which point he got stuck and didn't know what to do? I don't know these answers, and you don't either. Wait for the official ntsb report then judge if you must.

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The time line has already been reported (also here and here):

Lights came on at 20 seconds

Gates started down at 13 seconds before the accident

Truck started across tracks at 12 seconds, one of the lowering gates striking the bed a little later.

At 9 seconds, the train engineer sounded the horn for 4 seconds.

The truck carrying the victims could not clear the track because there was a second flatbed, with additional parade participants, in front of it. So, his path was blocked. Some people managed to jump, but as many of the veterans were disabled from their wounds, they could not.

I'm sure it was not the intention of the truck driver to cause this, & I'm sure that he feels deep remorse. But his serious errors in judgement caused this to happen.

The question of whether or not the 20 seconds activation time is sufficient or not is really immaterial in this incident, as the lights had been flashing for about 8 seconds, and the gates had just started down, before the driver started across. With his path blocked by the other truck (in front of him), even a longer warning would not have helped, since he could not completely cross. He ignored the one already active.

[hiegtx]

Originally Posted by nd5y

I haven't been to Midland for about 30 years. Back then it was a flat desert with no trees and you can see up and down the railroad tracks for a long distance. According to Google street view it hasn't changed.

Midland, TX - Google Maps

I have to agree with Confuzzled.

It's been even longer since I've been to Midland. I looked at the scene in Google Earth, and, as Tom noted, it's unobstructed for a long ways. No curve in the tracks at all.

[kf4sek]

Gentleman, my comment was not to start a fight. The fact is, the driver of the truck should have been able to tell that he would not clear the tracks with the tractor-trailer since the first one blocked his path to do so. He chose to continue across, stopping with the trailer still on the tracks. Regardless of crossing gate times and train speed, he is at fault. Sure, the parade organizers could have upheld trains until the parade was over. However, they did not. But, even with trains being held, every driver should know better than to stop on the tracks or start across if they cannot clear the tracks fully. That is the point I was trying to make. If you are stupid enough to stop on the tracks, whether there is a train coming or not, you need to go back to driver's ed! If he would have waited until there was enough room to cross and clear the tracks, this crash would have been avoided!

Yes, the responders did, pardon my language, a hell of a job. They should be commended, as should the dispatchers. They train for mass casualty incidents like this. They kept their heads and didn't lose it, even though I am sure they wanted to.

And thanks to everyone, including Lindsay, who posted the links to the archived audio.

It is still tragic but, again, could have all been avoided.

[searingxheretic]

Thank you, hiegtx, for posting some facts. Until your post, I hadn't seen the report which I am assuming they completed very recently. The driver will have his day in court. Until then I hope he gets some support because I'm sure his thoughts are not good. Again, I would hope people would praise the responders rather than tearing into someone who obviously made an egregious mistake.

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