Norfolk Southern fires three-man crew that parked train in fatal accident in South Carolina

<p>The three-man crew accused of failing to switch a railroad track before last month's freight train crash and deadly chlorine leak were fired by Norfolk Southern.</p><p>Railroad spokesman Robin Chapman said Friday the workers were terminated because they "failed to perform their duties properly."</p><p>Union officials said the three men will appeal and each had at least 25 years of experience.</p><p>The Jan. 6 accident killed nine people, injured hundreds more and forced the evacuation of thousands of residents of Graniteville, S.C. It was the deadliest train wreck involving hazardous material in nearly three decades.</p><p>Investigators have preliminarily determined that, after parking their train on a spur line, the three crew members failed to switch the tracks back to the main line, which allowed an oncoming train to ram the parked cars.</p><p>The Federal Railroad Administration, in a safety advisory last month, said the likely cause of the crash was human error rather than switch failure or sabotage.</p><p>The crew members were not identified by the company. However, at least 15 lawsuits alleging negligence have been filed against Norfolk Southern and at least six of them name as defendants Benjamin Aiken, 50, the parked train's engineer, conductor James Thornton, 56, and brakeman Mike Ford, 48.</p>