Train conductor killed in derailment

A train conductor was killed in a train derailment accident in Alabama.  He was standing on the back of a cut of tanker cars when the tanker car he was riding on derailed, causing him to be thrown from the car and pinned between the tanker car and some scrap metal.  The exact cause of the derailment is under investigation.

Because the deceased was an employee of a railroad, the only basis for compensation that his family can make is under the Federal Employers Liability Act, or FELA.  FELA requires railroads to provide its employees a safe place to work, including safe track and equipment.  Since the most likely cause of the train derailment was either defects in the track or the cars in the train, the family would have to pursue an FELA case based on defective tracks or equipment, depending on the final results of the investigation of the train derailment.