Crash of Two Subway Trains on the Williamsburg Bridge - New York City, NY » Safety Considerations

The location of the incident, high above the East River and the Brooklyn shore, created two special safety concerns. First, unlike a conventional at-grade trackbed, there was little structure beneath the elevated trackbed to prevent a fall all the way to the river or ground below. People walking in the area had to be extremely cautious to avoid falling between the ties or through gaps in the structure. The construction crews working on the bridge in the area of the crash assisted by providing plywood which was used to cover areas where passengers and responders needed to traverse. The NYPD assigned a launch to stand by in the river below the bridge in case it became necessary to rescue someone who had fallen into the water.

Because they were unsure of the extent of damage to the undercarriage of the subway cars, the incident commanders ordered the evacuation of all land areas under the crash site to guard against injuries from falling debris. Although no debris ultimately fell, this is an excellent example of forward thinking and contingency planning.

Additional safety actions included FDNY’s stretching a hoseline to the trackbed. Although there was no initial report of fire, prudent incident management dictated that firefighters be prepared for the risk of a fire during the removal of passengers and the extrication of the train operator. Ultimately, no fire suppression efforts were necessary.

The NYPD aviation unit contacted the Federal Aviation Administration to have the airspace surrounding the incident restricted, in order to prevent aerial “rubbernecking” (a large number of helicopters regularly operate in New York City). The NYPD harbor launch which was standing by below the bridge also kept other watercraft away from the danger zone. This rescue was unusual because it was necessary to control access to the scene from more than one dimension.

Both the FDNY and NYC-EMS had safety officers assigned to the incident and functioning within the Incident Command System. The two on-duty Safety Battalion Chiefs were dispatched to the incident by the FDNY (although one later left to handle a serious firefighter injury at another incident). The FDNY Safety Battalion Chiefs receive special training as incident safety officers and respond to all major incidents with the authority to halt and correct any unsafe actions. NYC-EMS assigned two command-level officers to handle safety, one at the trackbed and one on the west-bound roadway.

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