Crew blundered in BHP runaway train drama | Gold Coast Bulletin OT
  Richard Youl


https://www.goldcoastbulletin.com.au/news/breaking-news/crew-blundered-in-bhp-runaway-train-drama/news-story/07706c9e841b60a5a39c78be73c9d47b

Crew blundered in BHP runaway train drama
Maintenance workers accidentally applied brakes to the wrong locomotive when they tried to help the driver of a runaway BHP iron ore train, which ended up being deliberately derailed while doing 144 kilometres per hour in Western Australia's Pilbara region.

The calamity on November 5 destroyed two locomotives, 245 ore cars and 2km of track infrastructure at Turner South, and the driver Peter Frick was sacked but has since reached a settlement with the company after taking his case to the Fair Work Commission.

An internal investigation by BHP found the incident was the result of "procedural non-compliance by the operator" and "integration issues with the electronically controlled pneumatic braking system".

A preliminary report released by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau on Tuesday also revealed a rail maintenance crew that was called to help the driver mistakenly applied handbrakes to a stationary, empty ore train - rather than the runaway train.

Originally published as Crew blundered in BHP runaway train drama