NTSB releases report on El Paso train conductor’s death

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) just put out a report on the deadly train derailment in August 2022 that killed a Union Pacific Railroad conductor.

49-year-old Mario Aurelio Navarro died August 29, 2022. ABC-7 covered the derailment when it happened.

The NTSB released the following statement regarding the incident.

"On August 29, 2022, about 9:14 p.m. local time, the conductor of Union Pacific Railroad train ISIEP 29 was killed during a shoving movement when two railcars of the train derailed in UP’s Alfalfa Yard in El Paso, Texas. The conductor was riding on the lead end of the first railcar when the train encountered a derail. The derail was placed on the yard lead earlier in the day to protect maintenance-of-way employees during an upcoming installation project. As the train entered the yard on the yard lead, the train encountered the derail device and two railcars derailed. One of these railcars overturned, landing on its side, then sliding into a residential property where it struck a natural gas line owned by Texas Gas Service. The railcar’s contact with the gas line did not result in a gas leak."

The agency went on to explain that it found probable cause that personnel failed to contact the employee-in-charge before giving the train permission to enter the yard lead track.

In December of 2022, Navarro's family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Union Pacific Railroads.