Montana Train Wreck Ditches New 737 Hulls Into The River.

[Kiwithrottlejockey]

from The Seattle Times....

Derailment spills Boeing fuselages

A train derailment in Montana ended with several
Boeing airplane fuselages and other equipment
bound for Renton sliding into a river on Thursday.

By COLLEEN WRIGHT - Seattle Times staff reporter | 9:30AM PDT - Saturday, July 05, 2014



BOEING investigators were dispatched to a train derailment in Montana that ended with Boeing airplane fuselages and other equipment sliding into a river on Thursday.

Boeing spokesman Larry Wilson said in a statement that a BNSF Railway train carrying six 737 fuselages and assemblies for 777 and 747 planes derailed near Rivulet, about 18 miles east of Superior, Montana.

Photos taken by rafters on the Clark Fork River showed at least three fuselages scattered along the river bank.





The train was westbound on track operated by Montana Rail Link (MRL) when 19 cars derailed, spilling the equipment down a steep riverbed and into the river. MRL spokeswoman Lynda Frost told a Missoula radio station the derailment happened around 4 p.m. No injuries were reported.

“Those cars contained aircraft components, denatured alcohol and soybeans,” she told KGVO. She said crews worked through the night to recover the load and attempt to clear the tracks.

According to The Associated Press, 13 of the cars that derailed were carrying freight, mostly aircraft parts with some soybeans and denatured alcohol. Six were empty.

Frost said the alcohol didn’t leak and no soybeans spilled. She said crews were working to remove the aircraft parts from the water.



The train was headed to Boeing’s final-assembly plant in Renton from Spirit AeroSystems in Wichita, Kansas. As of Friday, trains were being rerouted while repairs were made. Frost said the line should reopen by Saturday evening.

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from The Seattle Times....

Crews to try to remove Boeing 737 fuselages from Montana river

By BETH KAIMAN - The Associated Press | 5:44PM PDT - Saturday, July 06, 2014



MISSOULA — Crews on Sunday will attempt to remove three Boeing 737 fuselages that tumbled down a steep bank and into the Clark Fork River in western Montana after a train derailed.

Montana Rail Link spokeswoman Lynda Frost said Saturday it’s unclear the type of challenge involved because it’s the first time the company has faced such a task.

No one was injured when 19 cars from a westbound train derailed Thursday about 10 miles west of Alberton. The cause of the derailment is under investigation.



The train carried six fuselages. Three others also fell off but stayed on land. Frost says Boeing has had workers at the scene assessing the damage.

The fuselages were headed to Renton to be assembled into completed airliners.

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