July 2, 2009 - Malfunction Missed Prior to Metro Crash

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The National Transportation Safety Board says Washington Metro workers overlooked a circuitry malfunction prior to a deadly June 22 railway crash.

Transit officials, citing the NTSB findings, said the piece of equipment that malfunctioned had recently been replaced to prevent crashes from occurring, The Washington Post said Thursday.

The officials would not say whether the circuitry malfunction was caused by a poor installation five days before the crash or faulty equipment.

Metro rail chief Dave Kubicek said the malfunction of the replacement Wee-Z bond occurred so quickly, it likely would have been unnoticeable to workers at the Metro's downtown operations center.

"It was happening so fast, you would just blink and miss it," he told the Post.

"From what we have discovered so far, it appears to be a freak occurrence," Metro General Manager John B. Catoe Jr. said.

The collision of two Metro Red Line trains resulted in nine deaths and 80 injuries.

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