[rob74]

The English article sounds more like he started looking for an emergency brake after he had notified the conductor (and apparently failed to convince him of the urgency of the situation), not before. The German article is much longer, but only mentions that both the passenger and the conductor could have prevented the accident if they would have pulled the emergency brake immediately, but that the conductor was acting "by the book" when he insisted on inspecting the damage himself before pulling the brake.

[jacquesm]

In the movie 'Kursk' there is exactly such a scene and the literal quote is 'By the book, better start praying. I'm not reli...".