Crew tried to stop Ohio train from derailing after wheel bearing alert – report

Engineer put the brakes on, the NTSB’s report says, but a wheel bearing had been heating up for a considerable amount of time

Crew members on the freight train that derailed in Ohio earlier this month, unleashing a huge blaze and spreading dangerous chemicals in the community, tried to slow and stop the train after seeing an alert about an overheating wheel bearing, but it came off the tracks, according to an interim report released on Thursday by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

The engineer on the train put the brakes on and the automatic braking system activated, the report said, but it was revealed that a wheel bearing had been heating up for a considerable time before the train reached East Palestine, Ohio, near the Pennsylvania state line.