Norton Says Early Reports Raise Questions About Metro Communications and Emergency Response Procedures

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The office of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), ranking member of the House Subcommittee on Highways and Transit, today released the following statement regarding yesterday's release of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Preliminary Report on the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) Smoke and Arcing Accident, and today's release of the Initial Report by the District of Columbia Fire and Emergency Medical Services:

"From the initial reports, it seems clear that communication problems between emergency responders and Metro, both underground and above ground, appear to have caused critical delays in rescuing hundreds of passengers from two smoke filled trains that took the life of one passenger and sent 86 others to the hospital. In the forthcoming NTSB report, I believe the cause of the accident will be analyzed separately from the emergency response. We may already be close to understanding the cause of the accident, a likely malfunction in a power cable supplying electricity to the third rail. Emerging as the most serious issue are the failed communication procedures between Metro officials and emergency responders. According to the District's timeline, rescue officials first became aware of trapped passengers from a 911 call from a passenger at 3:33 PM, not from Metro, 18 minutes after the incident began; before that call, rescue officials say they were not even aware that an emergency evacuation would be necessary. It may well be what prevented the loss of more lives is that it only took Metro one minute to activate the tunnel's ventilation system, which indicates that Metro understood a serious incident was underway. At the same time, Metro may not have communicated the severity of the situation to emergency officials or perhaps called 911 until 3:22 PM, an inexplicable gap.

"We appreciate the rapidly prepared preliminary reports of the NTSB and D.C. Fire and Emergency Services. They will enable Metro and Members of Congress to begin to take some of the appropriate action even before the final NTSB report."

Norton has arranged a briefing by NTSB and Metro officials for regional Senate and House Members to take place this Wednesday, January 21, 2015, at 4:30 PM, in room H-144 in the U.S. Capitol.