A Wyoming locomotive engineer is suing Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP) in federal court, alleging he was injured when an AI computer software system caused two locomotives on the train on which he was working to move at conflicting speeds.
Andrew Kirol was injured in May 2021 when the AI software gave “incorrect, inconsistent, contradictory and dangerous instructions” to the locomotives powering the train, according to a lawsuit filed April 18 in the District of Wyoming.
Kirol was required to use the software, known as the Leader system. The system’s purpose was to learn how to control locomotives on trains “without input from the Locomotive Engineer,” says the lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages.
The train was hauling freight near Green River, Wyoming, through an area of hills and valleys. Kirol was in the lead locomotive. A middle locomotive was typically controlled remotely by the engineer, but all locomotives were controlled by AI on the day of the incident, according to the suit.
As the train climbed a hill, the AI system slowed the lead locomotive while at the same time causing the middle locomotive to speed up. This “resulted in the middle locomotive violently pushing the cars between it and the lead locomotive towards the head of the train and into the locomotive where the Plaintiff was situated,” the suit states. “This caused a ‘rear ending’ of the Plaintiff’s locomotive with significant speed and force” by compressing the slack spaces between cars.
The conflicting speeds between the locomotives were “a circumstance which no competent Locomotive Engineer would have allowed to arise under the circumstances,” the suit alleges. Kirol was “violently” tossed around the cab, injuring his lower back.
The lawsuit alleges that Union Pacific didn’t warn Kirol of the possible hazards, didn’t train him adequately on operating the Leader system and failed to inspect the locomotives.
Kirol, who was “a strong and able-bodied man” prior to his injuries, expects to have physical impairments in the future and physical pain “probably permanently,” the lawsuit says.
Union Pacific didn’t immediately respond to an inquiry from FreightWaves about the lawsuit and the Leader system.
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