The public docket released Monday contains only factual information collected by NTSB investigators, and does not provide analysis, findings, recommendations or probable cause determinations.
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The train’s engineer has told investigators he can’t recall the moments immediately before the crash.
They thing the engineer may have quote “lost situational awareness” and was unable to slow the train around a sharp curve. A letter from Amtrak in the NTSB files shows he was suspended for speeding the night of the crash.
Investigators have ruled out problems with the track, signals or locomotive, according to an NTSB official.
The engineer’s comments are part of a trove of documents released Monday by the National Transportation Safety Board, the federal agency investigating the derailment. Onboard images of Amtrak 188 crash Those pictures were released on Monday along with dozens of other photos and reports related to the crash investigation. A grapefruit-sized fracture pattern was discovered in the windshield of the locomotive after the crash.
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”.
In his November 10 interview, however, he told investigators concerned that he thought the SEPTA workers may have been on the tracks inspecting them and may not have been aware of what was going on. “The train was going significantly fast around the curve”.
Yet, Bostian told investigators in an initial interview three days later that his last pre-crash memory involved ringing the bell on the locomotive as it passed through North Philadelphia station.
He said he dialed 911, “and at the time I did not know” my location.
The documents also say that black box data from the train showed that it was at or near full throttle in the 55 seconds before it hit a curve traveling at more than double the speed limit of 50 miles per hour. “In response to that feeling, I put the train brake on”.
“The conductor came over and said: ‘Yeah, this has happened before.’ He said: ‘Don’t worry, the glass is really strong, ‘” said Lorenz, who had boarded the train in Baltimore.
NTSB has wrapped up its investigative phase into the accident. The only issue Bostian said he noticed was minor – excessive wind noise outside the engineer side window. Toxicology tests of Bostian found no drugs or alcohol.
Mr. Bostian, who investigators said was “extremely cooperative”, gave up his phone’s password, which allowed the safety board to access data on the device without having to seek a subpoena, according to the NTSB.
The Philadelphia-New York portion of the northeast corridor was the final section that needed positive train control technology that Congress mandated for passenger and freight rail.
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Investigators found evidence that a rock or another projectile, like a bullet, hit the windshield of the engine just before the derailment occurred and while an investigation did find that something did strike the window, they declined to speculate on whether it had any bearing on the crash.
