NTSB trying to determine why tractor-trailer stopped on train tracks before deadly West Texas crash

PECOS, Texas — Federal officials investigating the deadly West Texas collision between at Union Pacific train and a tractor-trailer hauling a wind turbine base said Friday they were trying to determine why the tractor-trailer was stopped on the tracks, leading to the crash that derailed the train and propelled the enormous wind turbine base into the air.

Two employees of Omaha, Nebraska-based Union Pacific were killed in the collision Wednesday at a railway crossing in Pecos. The National Transportation Safety Board said it hasn’t yet determined how long the tractor-trailer was on the tracks before the collision or if anyone tried to contact the railroad through the emergency number posted at the crossing.

The train was traveling at about 68 mph (109 kph) before the crew applied emergency brakes prior to impact, the NTSB said.

The collision caused the wind turbine base to fly into a nearby building, NTSB said. The Chamber of Commerce building was damaged in the collision, and a Reeves County official has said that some people in the building were injured.

The Pecos police chief has said all of the three injuries from the collision were minor.

NTSB said that a data recorder recovered from the wreckage is being transported to its lab.