The Associated Press – A federal investigator says the operator of a light-rail train that crashed in San Francisco, injuring dozens of passengers, switched his controls from automatic to manual before he should have.

National Transportation Safety Board investigator Ted Turpin said Sunday that the operator switched to manual in a tunnel near West Portal Station, instead of inside the station.

The operator, who has not been named, was injured in Saturday’s collision.

Turpin says the train crashed into a train parked at the station 24 seconds after the operator made the switch. The collision injured 48 people – four seriously.

Turpin says investigators haven’t interviewed train operators, and haven’t yet determined why the switch was made. [read more…]