Today Marks One-Year Anniversary of Deadly Amtrak Crash Near Mendon
June 27th, 2022 marks the one-day anniversary of the deadly Amtrak crash near Mendon. Just after 12:30 pm, the Southwestern Chief Amtrak train collided with a dump truck at a passive train crossing. That resulted in both locomotives and all eight cars derailing. Three passengers and the driver of the dump truck were killed. About 150 people were injured. Passenger Laura Smalec of Los Angeles described the moment of impact.
Public Information Officer for the State Highway Patrol, Justin Dunn, described the emergency response to the accident scene.
Each agency took multiple passengers to nearby hospitals. Northwestern High School in Mendon was used as a staging area and numerous area residents arrived to provide aid any way they could. The following day, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) held a press conference in Mendon, where NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy cited a previous safety recommendation that went unheeded.
The passive train crossing had no crossing arms, flashing lights or warning bells. It also had limited sightlines for motorists due to overgrown brush near the tracks and the angle of the intersection. A wide range of lawsuits have been filed by victims since the accident. None of those have gone to trial yet.
