NTSB: No “identifiable problems”, before Philly Amtrak train derailment

Among the most illuminating parts of the federal investigation are two transcripts of interviews Bostian had with investigators, one immediately after the May 12 crash that killed eight people and injured almost 200 others, and the second in November.

NTSB investigators wondered in interviews whether a radio transmission about a neighboring SEPTA train that was hit by a debris could have caused some “confusion”.

Investigators at the National Transportation Safety Board have released over 2,000 pages of documentation about last May’s crash, which killed eight passengers.

But Bostian, who suffered a concussion and other injuries during the crash, warned: “I couldn’t say with certainty that my memory is accurate”.

Bostian said he knew a coworker who got glass in his eye after a collision with a tractor trailer.

His next memory is after the crash, when he was in the cab, “hearing screams from passengers”.

Bostian said he couldn’t remember where he was, and anxious about not being able to tell the 911 dispatcher.

The documents do reveal that prior to the crash, the windshield of a SEPTA train passing through the area was shattered, possibly by rocks.

The NTSB has looked into the possibility that an object striking the locomotive distracted the engineer, Brandon Bostian, who was operating the northbound train from Washington when the accident occurred May 12.

Bostian told investigators from the NTSB in the days after the crash that he did not remember seeing any signs about speed restrictions ahead of the section of track where his train derailed.

“I’m not sure if somebody is shooting at us or they’ re throwing rocks, but I see it out my mirror”, Akida recalled Bostian saying.

When he realized the train was about to derail, Bostian recalled holding tightly to the controls and thinking, “Well, this is it, I’m going over”, according to the documents.

Bostian has been “extremely cooperative”, the NTSB official said. A grapefruit-sized fracture pattern was discovered in the windshield of the locomotive after the crash.

Bostian has stated that “he has absolutely no recollection” of the derailment.

But they don’t indicate a cause, or assign blame.

The engineer told investigators that his practice for accelerating trains is to “gradually increase the throttle”.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) report is expected to include black box data, interviews with first responders and crew members and images from the scene. The train had been going 106 miles per hour as it approached a curve where the limit was 50 miles per hour.

Documents and evidence related to the investigation to last year’s deadly Amtrak train 188 will be released by federal investigators this afternoon.

Phone records indicate Bostian was not using his cell phone for calls, texts or the Internet while he was operating the train and Amtrak’s records also show that the engineer didn’t use the train’s Wi-Fi system. He remains on unpaid leave and has not been criminally charged.