Van Driver Killed After Amtrak Train Collision

A retired aerospace engineer returning from the post office was killed Thursday morning when his minivan was struck by an Amtrak train as he crossed the railroad tracks on Chatsworth Street.

The impact of the collision was so severe that the van was tossed 50 feet down the track and its engine was hurled into an adjacent parking lot. The driver, 63-year-old James Willis, was killed instantly, authorities said.

But the cause of the accident remained in dispute. Police said Willis failed to heed the tracks’ flashing red warning signals. Willis’ relatives and at least one witness questioned whether the tracks’ wooden crossing guard came down quickly enough.

Assad Zuaiter, whose car was traveling in the opposite direction, said he had to brake hard to avoid the falling railroad arm and the onrushing train. The arm on Willis’ side also fell too slowly, he said, adding, “There was a delay of at least 20 seconds.”

Zuaiter said he honked his horn to warn Willis of the train. At the last moment, Willis lurched forward as he stepped on the brakes and skidded, Zuaiter said.

Los Angeles Police Det. R.S. Uber said the arm was functioning properly at the time of the crash. Even if the arm did not drop, Uber said, all witnesses agree that red signal lights were flashing.

The cause of the crash was “inattention,” Uber said.

Shortly after the crash, the electrical box that controls the crossing signal caught fire, police said. They blamed the downed crossing bar for the fire.

The train, Amtrak’s Coast Starlight line, was headed north to Seattle with 262 passengers aboard, Amtrak officials said.

Frank Willis, 35, the father of seven’s oldest son, expressed anger and suspicion about the circumstances of the crash. Had the crossing arms come down sooner, he said, his father would still be alive.

“The police said the arms came down as the train came through,” he said. “But the arms are supposed to be down before the train even gets there.”