Amtrak Suffers Third Fatal Crash in Less than Two Months

The crash in Cayce, South Carolina on Sunday killed the engineer and conductor riding in the Amtrak locomotive, injuring over 100 passengers and crew members. A locked switch had directed Amtrak #91 into a siding where it hit a parked CSX train.

3 minute read

February 6, 2018, 10:00 AM PST

By Irvin Dawid


Amtrak Train 91, carrying about 139 passengers and eight crew members, left Boston shortly after 6 AM on Saturday, Feb. 3, headed for Miami. Soon after departing the Columbia, South Carolina station early Sunday morning (see schedule [pdf] for Silver Service / Palmetto route), the train left the one-track mainline and entered the siding where it hit the parked CSX freight train at around 2:35 a.m. ET, Feb. 4, near Cayce (pronounced CAY-cee).

"National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) chairman Robert Sumwalt said Sunday that human error played a role in the train wreck," reports Sammy Fretwell for The State on Feb. 5.

CSX, as owner of the track, was responsible for making sure the track switch was in the right position. But Sumwalt said it was locked in the wrong position, which sent the Amtrak train off course.

He told reporters the accident “was indeed a tragic human error.’’

CSX says it does not dispute the facts in the case so far.

"The Lexington County coroner, Margaret Fisher, identified the dead as Amtrak employees: the train’s 54-year-old engineer, Michael Kempf, of Savannah, Ga., and a conductor, Michael Cella, 36, of Orange Park, Fla.," report Alan Blinder, Christina Caron and John Jeter for The New York Times. The freight train was reported to have been unoccupied at the time.

“The key to this investigation is learning why that switch was lined that way because the expectation was, of course, that the Amtrak train would be operating like this,” [Sumwalt] said, pointing to a whiteboard showing the passenger train’s southbound direction.

Federal Railroad Administration statistics have shown that in recent years the agency has had an average of about two derailments a month, accounting for about one-quarter of the accidents it reports.

As is the custom after passenger train crashes and derailments, talk turns to positive train control (PTC), a wireless technology utilizing GPS which may have been present on the locomotive and the track, but wasn't operational.

"Even though it is early in the investigation, Sumwalt was adamant about the benefits of positive train control, and how it could have factored into an incident like Sunday’s," reported Lori Aratani and Faiz Siddiqui for The Washington Post on Feb. 4.

“An operational PTC system is designed to prevent this type of accident,” he said. “A fully operational positive train control system could have avoided this accident, and that’s what it was designed to do."

The derailment comes less than a week after a chartered Amtrak train carrying GOP congress members to their West Virginia retreat on Jan. 31 slammed into a trash truck at a rural grade crossing near Crozet, Virginia, killing one occupant of the truck and injuring two others. On Dec. 18, Amtrak train 501 left the new Tacoma, Wash. station on its maiden voyage on the new, bypass route to Portland when it derailed over Interstate 5 near DuPont, Wash., killing three passengers, injuring over 100.

Monday, February 5, 2018 in The State

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Cover CM Credits, Earn Certificates, Push Your Career Forward

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

July 16, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Green vintage Chicago streetcar from the 1940s parked at the Illinois Railroad Museum in 1988.

Chicago’s Ghost Rails

Just beneath the surface of the modern city lie the remnants of its expansive early 20th-century streetcar system.

July 13, 2025 - WTTV

Blue and silver Amtrak train with vibrant green and yellow foliage in background.

Amtrak Cutting Jobs, Funding to High-Speed Rail

The agency plans to cut 10 percent of its workforce and has confirmed it will not fund new high-speed rail projects.

July 14, 2025 - Smart Cities Dive

Worker in yellow safety vest and hard hat looks up at servers in data center.

Ohio Forces Data Centers to Prepay for Power

Utilities are calling on states to hold data center operators responsible for new energy demands to prevent leaving consumers on the hook for their bills.

July 18 - Inside Climate News

Former MARTA CEO Collie Greenwood standing in front of MARTA HQ with blurred MARTA sign visible in background.

MARTA CEO Steps Down Amid Citizenship Concerns

MARTA’s board announced Thursday that its chief, who is from Canada, is resigning due to questions about his immigration status.

July 18 - WABE

Rendering of proposed protected bikeway in Santa Clara, California.

Silicon Valley ‘Bike Superhighway’ Awarded $14M State Grant

A Caltrans grant brings the 10-mile Central Bikeway project connecting Santa Clara and East San Jose closer to fruition.

July 17 - San José Spotlight