Latest Transportation Headlines
All the headlines from our Transportation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Uber Disabled Brake of Self-Driving Car in Arizona Fatal Crash
May 25 2018 // Uber had disabled an emergency braking system in a self-driving vehicle that struck and killed a woman in Arizona in March even though the car had identified the need to apply the brakes, the National Transportation Safety...
The Road Ahead for Autonomous Cars and Auto Insurance
May 17 2018 // The death of a pedestrian who was struck by an autonomous vehicle in Tempe, Arizona, has brought fresh scrutiny to the accelerating development of self-driving cars. The accident on March 18 is bound to be studied...
Uber Hires Ex-Regulator for Safety Advice; Website Says Software Flaw Caused Accident
May 9 2018 // Uber Technologies Inc. on Monday said it has retained a former top U.S. transportation official to advise it on safety after a fatal self-driving crash in March, but it declined to comment on a technology website’s...
Southwest Air Jet Engine That Failed Was Inspected 7 Times
May 4 2018 // The fan blade that failed on a Southwest Airlines Co. plane last month, killing a passenger, had been inspected seven times since late 2012 but without the sophisticated technology airlines are now under orders to use. The...
Amtrak Failed to Observe Speed Warnings Before Fatal Maryland Crash
May 1 2018 // Five months ago, in a scathing report on a 2016 accident in which two track workers were killed, U.S. safety investigators urged Amtrak to slow its trains when they pass work crews. The nation’s passenger rail...
NTSB Says Pilot Reported Ice Buildup Before Crash of Small Plane in Pennsylvania
Apr 26 2018 // Investigators say the pilot of a small plane had reported ice buildup on his aircraft and asked to divert to a nearby airport shortly before the crash that killed him and his passenger last week in Pennsylvania. A...
Regulators Had Concerns About Engine Type That Blew in Southwest Plane
Apr 18 2018 // European regulators this month began requiring an inspection by early next year of the type of engine that blew apart on a fatal Southwest Airlines flight on Tuesday, and a source said U.S. regulators were near a similar...
Southwest Fatality First for a U.S. Airline in 9 Years
Apr 17 2018 // One passenger was killed when an engine blew out on a Southwest Airlines Co. jetliner carrying 149 people, marking the first fatality on a U.S.-registered airline in more than nine years. The plane, bound for Dallas from...
Safety Worry: Keeping Humans In and Around Autonomous Vehicles Engaged
Apr 11 2018 // After partially faulting Tesla Inc.’s automation system for a 2016 fatal crash, U.S. safety investigators last year called on carmakers to do more to ensure drivers stay engaged as next-generation cars start to steer...
Arthur J. Gallagher Acquires Houston’s Integrity Transportation Insurance
Apr 10 2018 // Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has acquired Houston-based Integrity Transportation Insurance Agency LLC. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Integrity Transportation Insurance Agency is a retail property/casualty...
U.S. Launches Investigation into Fatal Tesla Crash in California
Mar 28 2018 // A fatal crash and vehicle fire of a Tesla Inc Model X near Mountain View, Calif., last week has prompted a federal field investigation, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said, sparking a big selloff in Tesla...
Fatal Copter Tour Flew Under Looser Rules of Crop-Dusters
Mar 15 2018 // The open-door helicopter tour in which five people died in a crash landing in the East River off Manhattan on Sunday was operating under safety restrictions reserved for photography flights that are looser than those for...
NTSB: Drugs, Phone Use May Have Caused 2015 Arkansas Rail Yard Death
Mar 8 2018 // The National Transportation Safety Board says it found several safety issues during its investigation of a 2015 rail yard death at a Pine Bluff packaging plant. The agency says it found illicit drug use by employees,...
NTSB Investigating Deadly Dallas House Explosion
Feb 27 2018 // Federal investigators arrived in Dallas Sunday to look into a suspected natural gas leak that caused an explosion at a newly renovated house, killing a 12-year-old girl and injuring four other members of her family. Ravi...
NTSB: Truck Hit by GOP Train in Virginia Was on Tracks After Warning
Feb 23 2018 // Witnesses told investigators that a garbage truck struck by a train carrying Republican congressmen through rural Virginia entered the railroad crossing after the safety gates had come down, the National Transportation...
‘Public Is Tired of Excuses’ for Delays in Anti-Crash Tech: Republican Chairman
Feb 16 2018 // The chair of a congressional committee on Thursday urged U.S. railroads and transit agencies to meet a looming deadline to install an anti-crash technology called positive train control after a series of recent...
U.S. Safety Board Blames Two NYC-Area Commuter Crashes on Sleep Disorders
Feb 7 2018 // A U.S. investigative agency said on Tuesday that two New York City area commuter train crashes were the result of engineers with undiagnosed sleep disorders. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) criticized the...
NTSB: 2016 Evacuation of Burning Jet in Chicago Put Lives at Risk
Jan 31 2018 // The emergency evacuation of a wide-body airliner in Chicago was anything but orderly. As flames engulfed the right wing, passengers screamed and clambered over seats even before the American Airlines jet came to a stop on...
Engineer in Fatal Washington Train Crash Didn’t Know Curve Was Ahead
Jan 26 2018 // The engineer controlling an Amtrak train that derailed in Washington state in December, killing three people, told investigators he didn’t realize he was coming up on a curve until it was too late. The National...
Tesla Autopilot Crash with Parked Fire Truck in Los Angeles Under Investigation
Jan 24 2018 // The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board will investigate an accident involving a Tesla Inc. Model S sedan that rear-ended a firetruck on a freeway near Los Angeles on Monday, the agency said. The agency will send two...
