1.
Provide 1 technical and 1 non-technical explanation for the derailment.
2.
Provide one example of the short and long-term impact on the residents. In your opinion should
they trust the information that is being shared regarding their health and safety?
3.
Select one of the other disasters discussed in class (or from your research paper topic) and
highlight 1-2 similarities between that disaster and the Ohio train derailment (e.g., non-technical
issue, aftermath, impact on society).
1. One technical cause for the derailment was one faulty wheel bearing. The wheel bearing
overheated and as the train was stopping the wheel bearing failed. One nontechnical cause for
the derailment is poor safety guidelines. There are sensors along the track that measure the
temperature of wheel bearings but do not cause an alert until it reaches 170 degrees fahrenheit.
170 degrees is the temperature at which the safety guidelines require operators to take action. If
this temp was lower the alert would have been triggered sooner and the derailment never would
have happened.
2. A short term impact to residents was skin irritation, dizziness, and headaches. Long term
exposure can cause cancer and liver disease, and environmental issues. I do not think residents
should trust the information they are receiving. I find it hard to believe that after burning off the
chemicals the air and water are clean. Residents can still smell and are getting sick which
further proves they are getting false information.
3. A similarity between Malaysia Airlines flight 370 and the Ohio derailment is lack of
communication. In both cases, residents and victim family members were receiving little to no
information. The information they did receive was not very trustworthy and didn’t seem true.
Everyone was very stressed and confused so they took to the internet to find information and
talk amongst others. Flight 370 was a much more public deal but the Ohio derailment had
facebook groups and local news outlets involved.
