Accident Investigation Summary Report HQ-2021-1437
- Federal Railroad Administration
Burns Harbor, IN
United States
On July 13, 2021, at approximately 10:35 p.m., CDT, a Norfolk Southern Railway Company (NS) conductor suffered a left arm amputation while attempting to mount moving equipment. The accident happened during a switching move in Burns Harbor Yard, on NS’s Toledo East Subdivision, in Burns Harbor, Indiana. The conductor was attempting to mount a moving car to ride it out of the track. As the conductor attempted to mount the car, he struck a stationary air hose stand and fell to the ground with his left arm in the foul of the track. As a result, his left arm was severed by the wheels of the car behind the one he was attempting to mount.