Black box data confirms that Spanish train was running too fast
Black box data confirms train that derailed in Spain, killing 79 people, was going way too fast
A Spanish train was hurtling around a curve at 179km/h, more than twice the speed limit, when it leapt off the tracks in a disaster that killed 79 people, a report on the contents of the "black box" recorders show.
The train driver was on the telephone to the on-board conductor and stopped speaking just 11 seconds before the July 24 derailment near the northwestern city of Santiago de Compostela, said a report released yesterday.
The driver, 52-year-old Francisco Jose Garzon Amo, has been released on bail charged with 79 counts of reckless homicide while the court runs a criminal investigation into Spain's deadliest rail accident since 1944.
"The train was running at the point of the derailment at a speed of 179km/h, the permitted speed limit being 80km/h," said the black box report released by the Galicia regional high court in Santiago de Compostela.
Two minutes before the derailment, the train was speeding down the track at 199km/h.
The recordings show the driver and conductor spoke for one minute 40 seconds, with the last words of their conversation heard exactly 11 seconds before the derailment.