T operator needed cell phone to call dispatchers in fatal crash

What's left of the front of the trolley that smashed into another train in May, 2008. Source: NTSB.

Tomorrow, the National Transportation Safety Board discusses the May, 2008 collision on the Riverside line that left one trolley driver dead and a passenger with severe injuries. If you can't wait for the press reports on the meeting, you can listen in over the Web, starting at 9:30 a.m.

In advance of the meeting, the NTSB has released a ton of documents and photos related to the crash, including the transcript of an interview of Linda Jenness, who was the operator of the second car in the trolley that got plowed into by another trolley. She reports she had to use her cell phone to call a Green Line dispatcher because the radio in her car was dead:

Q. When you called Central, did you -- how did you make that call?
A. I called Central, and I said -- he said this is a Code 1, this is a Code 1. We're in emergency situation. I said, Central, I'm here.
Q. Did you call on the radio?
A. My cell phone.
Q. On your cell phone.
A. Because my radio was dead.
Q. Okay. Was your radio dead before the accident?
A. Yes.

However, under further questioning, she seems to indicate she didn't know if the radio was broken before the crash.

The T this year banned cell phone possession by T workers after another Green Line crash - but also says it now has daily testing of radios in trains.

Jenness also describes helping passengers get off the train - and seeing train driver Terese Edmonds and knowing instantly she was beyond help.