Earlier today, federal investigators released their findings on what could have caused the fatal derailment from last year's Amtrak passenger train. The findings, released by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) online, include thousands of pages which detail possible events that led Amtrak 188 to crash in Philadelphia last May 12, 2015. Despite the number of pages of their discovery, they still remain clueless as to what caused the crash. Over 200 passengers were injured in the incident that left 8 people killed.
The documents released by the NTSB contain various interviews they conducted with Brandon Bostian, the Amtrak train engineer. As DailyMail shares it, the documents detail Bostian's words of having no recollection of what happened just before the accident. Apart from the interview with Bostian, the NTSB's findings include transcripts of interviews with crew members, first responders, and even its black box data.
At the time of the accident, the Amtrak regional train was en route to New York from Washington, D.C. when it went off the tracks along a northbound curve in Philadelphia. The reports show that the train was traveling beyond the speed limit of 50mph. This has led investigators to question the 32-year-old engineer why the train had to take a sharp curve with this speed.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that Bostian's lawyer, Robert Goggin, defended that the engineer does not remember the crash. The engineer did not warrant a formal interview with authorities and ever since then, has said little about the incident. A day after the crash, his lawyer details that Bostian remembering the train was "pulling into speed-restricted track" but could not recall activating the emergency brake. Bostian was not under the influence of alcohol or drugs during the time of the accident. The NTSB also verified that the engineer was not using his phone to make calls, text or data at the time of the crash. Officials, however, did not rule out other possibilities; such as using an app. Meanwhile, Goggin defends that Bostian's phone was in his bag the entire time.
Early in the investigation, the NTSB identified that the crash was caused by excessive speed. With their findings, the investigators believe there was no evidence of malfunction on the train, tracks, or signals. They are now focusing on looking more into detail of what could have led the train to crash, especially with the train's assistant conductor recalling that he heard the engineer say the train had been hit by something on the radio. A small dent was also found by investigators on the windshield of the train. A final report will be analyzed by the group in the spring.
