BART officials have now told train operators to turn off the ventilation system during smoke events – a policy shift designed to prevent what happened in August when smoke sucked in by air conditioning filled a train stuck in the Transbay Tube.

Before the Aug. 29 mishap, BART operators were told to keep the ventilation system running, unless their train came under nuclear, chemical or biological attack, BART officials have acknowledged.

According to a report issued Wednesday to the BART governing board, the new notice to operators was issued on Sept. 29, exactly one month after smoke from a blown insulator filled Train 387.

“I can’t see…I have people opening doors on the train…I cannot…what can we do?” the Train 387 operator told BART dispatchers, according to the in-cab video recording

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