Bucoda woman killed in collision on tracks

By Christian Hill | The Olympian • Published September 03, 2008

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BUCODA – A 74-year-old woman was killed Tuesday after she drove into a freight train, then was struck by a passenger train headed in the opposite direction.

Patricia A. Panter of Bucoda struck a train bound for Vancouver while driving over the town's main railroad crossing on West Sixth Street about 4:30 p.m. Her car then was struck by an Amtrak Cascades passenger train headed north to Seattle.

The Washington State Patrol reported that the 1995 Subaru Legacy was dragged after striking the first train. Gus Melonas, a spokesman for BNSF Railway, said the car came to a rest on the northbound track after the initial crash. It was unknown Tuesday how much time passed between the two crashes. Both trains remained at the scene for several hours.

Ted Bird, who has lived on property next to the railroad for 20 years, said he looked out his back door after he heard a train braking and metal scraping. He ran to the front of the train and saw movement in the wreckage, he said. An emergency medical technician aboard the train joined him.

Bird said he kept Panter's head still while the technician worked on her and later while firefighters extricated her from the wreckage. Panter was flown by helicopter to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle and died en route.

"I did what I could," Bird said.

The cause of the crash remains unclear.

A witness blamed it on a malfunctioning gate. Melonas said the investigation is ongoing but noted that workers at the scene initially determined that the gates were functioning properly. Authorities will review video captured from a camera aboard the freight train, he said.

Ashley Bunting, 21, of Tenino, said she was pointing out the freight train to her 15-month-old son, Phillip, as they watched the Subaru slam into it.

"She didn't even stop," Bunting said. "She went right into the third engine."

Bunting said the gate on the east side of the railroad crossing came down, but the gate on the other side remained up.

"It's not her fault," she said.

The gate has malfunctioned in the past, said Alan Carr, a Bucoda councilman and former mayor.

The gates, which are controlled by an automated system, lowered and remained in that position on a number of previous occasions, Carr said. Poles had to be installed on West Sixth Street to keep people from driving around the lowered gates, he said.

Melonas said he was unaware of any problems with the gates at that location.

The railroad resumed normal operations after 8 p.m., he said. More than 60 trains use the line each day, he added.

Passengers aboard the Amtrak Cascades train waited for several hours until a tow truck could pull the wreckage from the front of the train. An Amtrak representative couldn't be reached for comment Tuesday night. Also, vehicle traffic was backed up for miles on state Route 507 for several hours.