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 Hours after launching their probe into the cause of the accident,
experts from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) also
concluded the derailment would have been prevented by installation
of an advanced safety system called "positive train control," NTSB
board member Robert Sumwalt said.
The engineer of the New York City-bound passenger train fully
applied the locomotive's emergency braking system as it entered the
left-hand curve in the rail line, where the maximum allowed speed is
50 mph (80 kph), Sumwalt told a news conference.
The brakes managed to only slightly slow the train from 106 mph (171
kph) to 102 mph in the few seconds before the locomotive and all
seven passenger cars derailed, he said.
A city official, speaking on condition of anonymity, identified the
train's driver as Brandon Bostian, reported to be aged 32. A
University of Missouri graduate with a business degree, he has
worked as an Amtrak engineer for more than four years and previously
served as a conductor for the railway, according to his LinkedIn
page.
The engineer, among those hurt in the wreck, could not be reached
immediately for comment.
Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter reacted with dismay to the
disclosure of the train's speed, calling it "astounding,
devastating."
"One-hundred, six miles per hour in a 50 mile-per-hour zone ...
that's just insane," the mayor said.
Authorities have offered no explanation for why the No. 188 train,
which originated in Washington, D.C. and had stopped in
Philadelphia's 30th Street station about 10 minutes earlier, was
traveling at more than double its authorized speed.
Sumwalt said NTSB investigators had yet to interview the engineer
but planned to after he had a day or two to convalesce.
ABC News reported that Bostian's lawyer told the network his client
has no memory of the crash itself and "no explanation" for what
happened, but was cooperating with authorities and had voluntarily
turned over a blood sample and his cell phone.
The attorney, whom ABC did not name, said Bostian recalls driving
the train to the area of the crash generally, then later getting
tossed around, coming to and finding his bag and cell phone before
dialing emergency-911, the network reported.
ABC also quoted the attorney as saying Bostian had "no health issues
to speak of" before the wreck and was on no medications. The
engineer suffered a concussion and a gash to his head that required
14 staples to close, the lawyer told ABC.
Bostian was treated for his injuries at Einstein Medical Center and
released, a hospital spokesman said.
 MORE DATA TO COLLECT
Sumwalt said data from the "black box" recorder recovered at the
crash site had yet to be fully analyzed, and investigators also
planned to examine video footage from forward-facing cameras
attached to the train.
He said the NTSB team expected to remain on the crash scene, in
north Philadelphia's Port Richmond section along the Delaware River,
for about a week.
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In addition to speed, the NTSB has said it was focusing on the
condition of the tracks and signaling equipment, crew training and
the performance of the five-person crew.
Rail service along Amtrak's Northeast Corridor, the country's
busiest with 12 million passengers a year, was disrupted after the
accident at about 9:20 p.m. EDT Tuesday (0130 GMT Wednesday),
leaving travelers scrambling for alternatives.
Rescue workers on Wednesday were still pulling apart the twisted
metal and sifting through debris left by the crash. One of the rail
cars landed upside down and three were tossed on their sides, while
passengers and luggage were sent flying, survivors said.
Authorities have not yet accounted for everyone believed to have
been on board.
Hospitals in the area reported treating more than 200 people, city
officials said. Amtrak has said 243 people, including a crew of
five, were on board.
The crash seemed likely to heighten moves to expand positive train
control, or PTC, systems, designed to prevent high-speed
derailments. No such system was in effect at the site of the Amtrak
crash, officials said.
"We feel that had such a system been installed in this section of
track, this accident would not have occurred," Sumwalt said.
Positive train control automatically slows or even halts trains
moving too fast or heading into a danger zone. Under current law,
the rail industry must adopt the technology by year-end.
The crash came a day before the House Appropriations Committee
approved a transportation budget for the next fiscal year that
included a funding cut for Amtrak.
One amendment proposed by Democrats called for $825 million in
capital investments in PTC technologies for passenger rail, but it
was blocked by the Republican majority.
Among those killed were Midshipman Justin Zemser, on leave from the
U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland; Associated Press video
software architect Jim Gaines, 48, a father of two who had attended
meetings in Washington and was returning home to New Jersey; Derrick
Griffith, 42, a dean of student affairs at Medgar Evers College in
New York; and Abid Gilani, a senior vice president at Wells Fargo &
Co's commercial real estate division.
(Additional reporting by Ellen Wulfhorst, Laila Kearney and Ryan
McNeill in New York, Susan Heavey in Washington and Dan Whitcomb in
Los Angeles; Writing by Frank McGurty and Steve Gorman; Editing by
Jeffrey Benkoe, Lisa Shumaker and Paul Tait)
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