NJ Transit train hit brakes 430 feet before fatal tree crash

✅ An NJ Transit River Line train came to a stop 880 ft after hitting a tree,

✅ A branch came through the windshield killing the operator

✅ The NTSB report did not yet address the maintenance of trees along the track

A federal investigation into a fatal Oct. 14 train crash with a tree says the NJ Transit River Line train was traveling at the speed limit when the operator spotted three tree across the tracks.

A tree branch went through the windshield of the train, killing operator Jessica Haley, 41, who lived with her three young sons in Levittown, Pennsylvania.

In its first preliminary report, the National Transportation Safety Board said that the train with 42 passengers on board was traveling south at 64 mph through a heavily wooded area of Mansfield in the pre-dawn darkness. The operator began to slow down 430 feet before making impact with the tree. The train traveled another 880 feet before coming to a stop.

Twenty-three passengers suffered mostly minor injuries.

The NTSB said future reports will focus on "NJ Transit’s right-of-way maintenance and inspection practices, dispatcher reporting procedures, and the crashworthiness of the light rail vehicle’s design."

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Family plans lawsuit

Haley's family served notice of their intent to file a lawsuit to the state, NJ Transit, NJ Transit Rail Operations, Southern JJ Rail Group, Alstom, the Burlington County Board of Commissioners, and the Township of Mansfield.

Jessica Haley and her sister Rebecca Haley work for Alstom, which contracts with NJ Transit.

Their attorney, Philadelphia-based Kila Baldwin, said the sisters were among the many operators and conductors who reported for years the trees were "troublesome" and needed attention.

Under New Jersey law, a tort of claim must be filed within 90 days.

The NTSB in its report said it reviewed NJ Transit operating procedures, conducted sight distance observations, reviewed the train's "event recorder" for data retrieval, watched video recordings from the outward-facing camera of a train that approached the accident site shortly after the collision, and completed interviews.

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