I heard the headline from CBS News on my car radio:
“NTSB to cite operator error in deadly Amtrak derailment.”
The news story came on the eve of the National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) public hearing regarding the May 2015 disaster outside of Philadelphia. The derailment killed eight passengers and injured 200 others. The subsequent news stories repeated "operator error." The phrase makes it sound like the engineer hit the wrong switch or pushed the wrong button. I wondered whether "operator error" in the headlines was a repulsive example of click baiting.
It wasn't.
The NTSB’s…
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