down. if he runs past a red signal, the it will automatically stop him. it s based on technology that s been around for decades. now, that would only occur if this were a situation, again, like the may 2015 philadelphia amtrak crash where the train operator was going around a curve much too fast or the one back in 2013. it would slow it down. but if there was a rail break, like the rail broke under the train or an axle broke, positive train control isn t going to do anything. i also want to bring in on the phone former ntsb investigator in charge and a railroad accident investigation expert. we were reporting just a little bit earlier, russell, that the ntsb has of course launched their go team. explain to us exactly what that is and what they ll be doing. a go team is a set number of specialists in different aspects
and that required some as you can see in some of the pictures, the traffic situation was horrible. they say the emergency rooms are fully up and running and taking those patients in. let me go back to you, gus, because nbc has learned that these tracks have what is called positive train control. explain for folks who don t know this stuff what is positive train control and what could that tell us about this? positive train control was something that the federal government mandated after the 2008 metro link crash in california. basically as far as accidents go, it says that if there s a restriction, what we call a civil speed restriction coming to a real sharp curve that requires a train to slow down. if the engineer doesn t do it, if he doesn t slow the train down, there s a system that will automatically slow the train
friends, bostian has a passion for trains and was a train safety advocate. following a deadly 2008 metro link crash in california blamed on an engineer distracted by text messages a post on a train enthusiast website believed to be from bostian read that s why it shouldn t take an act of congress to get industry to adopt common sense safety systems on their own. bostian, apparently an advocate for safety technology that could have prevented his own crash. meantime we re hearing from emergency crews who helped pull people from the wreckage. i saw a lot of people injured. a lot of head wounds. a lot of arm injuries leg injuries. reporter: officer daniel causeme seen on the far left was one of the first to arrive after 911 calls flooded in. the guy, he was laying on the floor holding his leg. he had a broken leg a broken ankle.
blank. according to friends, bostian has a passion for trains and was a train safety advocate. following a deadly 2008 metro link crash in california blamed on an engineer distracted by text messages a post on a train enthusiast website believed to be from bostian read quote that s why it shouldn t take an act of congress to get industry to adopt common-sense safety systems on their own. meantime we re now hearing from emergency crews, who helped pull people from the wreckage. i saw a lot of people injured, a lot of head wounds. a lot of arm injuries leg injuries. officer daniel cosme seen on the far left was one of the first to arrive after 911 calls flooded in. the guy, he was laying on the floor, holding his leg. he had a broken leg, a broken ankle. grabbed each other s hands to make a chair so he can sit down.
contributing to the accident was the absence of positive train control or ptc. all of these deaths and injuries were preventable. it would have prevented this derailment by automatically applying the brakes even when the engineer did not. the ntsb has called for the implementation of ptc. thankfully congress has mandated the use of this technology by the end of next year. thank you, congress. thank you, congress. but no rush. we are really good at investigating these kinds of disasters when they happen we find out why they happen and we then find out what would have presaented them from happening. positive train control, this little safety system we know how to do it would have prevented that metro link crash in los angeles. it would have prevented this fatal commuter train crash in massachusetts. it would have prevented that metro north crash just north of