Victim of Train Crash Mourned

As nervous passengers resumed riding Metrolink on Tuesday, family and friends mourned the death of a movie studio truck driver who was killed in a fiery Burbank crash that derailed a four-car commuter train and injured 34 people.

Jacek “Jack” Wysocki, 63, of Van Nuys was on his way Monday morning to a freelance movie job when he steered his rented stake-bed truck past guardrails onto the train tracks as warning lights flashed, officials and witnesses said.

The train, traveling 70 mph, split the Ford F-550 truck, which exploded into a fireball. The first two cars of the train overturned, hurling Metrolink passengers out of their seats. Debris from the collision showered the adjacent Golden State Freeway.

On Tuesday after seeing the accident site, Tomasz Wysocki said he could not fathom how his cautious and conscientious father, an experienced driver, could have turned into the path of an oncoming train.

“Wherever he is right now, I hope he is happy,” Wysocki said. “But I know he’s kicking himself hard in the back part of his body for his mistake.”

Jack Wysocki, who lived with his son, daughter-in-law and grandchild, was born in Poland and immigrated to the United States in 1971. He was remembered by his friends and neighbors for his friendliness, generous spirit and Old World charm.

“He was a very courteous, very European man,” said Zora Valibayat, a family friend, recalling that Wysocki always kissed her hand when he saw her.

Wysocki was someone who could always be counted on, said Carol Imlay, a next-door neighbor. “We’d tell him when we go out of town, and him and his family would look after our place,” she said.

Many injured passengers, most of whom sustained minor cuts and bruises, have been released from area hospitals, officials said Tuesday.

Still hospitalized are a 76-year-old Newhall woman who suffered hip pains, a 48-year-old Newhall woman who lost sensation in her lower body and a 68-year-old Canyon Country woman with a spinal fracture, said Dan Boyle, a spokesman for Providence St. Joseph and Providence Holy Cross medical centers, where the patients are being treated.

The train’s injured engineer and conductor, as well as a Burbank firefighter who hurt his shoulder while rescuing passengers, were treated and released, officials said.

Local and federal authorities continued trying to reconstruct the accident. All traffic signals, flashing lights, guardrails and alarm bells warning motorists about the approaching train were working properly at the time of the crash, officials said.

“Some witnesses say he drove through the gate. Some witnesses saw him go around the gate. We may never know for sure,” said Burbank Police Sgt. John Dilibert.

For the next few days, investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board will continue interviewing witnesses and collecting accident data, a spokesman for the federal agency said.

Metrolink’s Antelope Valley line was running 20 to 35 minutes late Tuesday because trains could run on only one set of tracks near the accident site and had to slow down for crews working on the damaged tracks. Repairs should be complete and trains running on time again sometime this afternoon, agency spokeswoman Sharon Gavin said. No other lines were affected, she said.

Two previous accidents in which a Metrolink train struck a vehicle occurred at the same Burbank intersection, in January 1994 and May 1995, Gavin said.

No injuries or deaths occurred in either incident.

Last year, the city of Burbank made safety improvements to the intersection, including adding a signal and a median. A city official said adding a left turn signal and widening Buena Vista Street are also planned.

Loyal Metrolink riders said they were not deterred by Monday’s accident.

“Everyone in the train was talking about it. We’re all a little nervous,” said legal secretary Shelley Hirmand, who takes the train from Simi Valley to her downtown office.

“We love Metrolink,” Hirmand said. “There are more accidents on freeways.”