Posted on 06/10/2015 6:14:13 AM PDT by Citizen Zed
Investigators examining last month’s fatal crash of an Amtrak train in Philadelphia now believe they know whether the engineer was using his phone when the derailment happened, a source with knowledge of the probe said Wednesday.
The source didn’t reveal the National Transportation Safety Board investigators’ conclusions. But the NTSB is expected to make an announcement about the crash at 9 a.m. ET Wednesday.
Amtrak Northeast Regional Train No. 188 derailed minutes after it left a Philadelphia station on the night of May 12, leaving eight people dead and more than 200 injured.
The New York-bound train had just entered a curve at 106 mph, through the curve had a speed limit of 50 mph. The engineer applied emergency brakes as it entered the curve, but the locomotive and all seven passenger cars derailed, the NTSB said in its preliminary report.
The cause of the crash is under investigation. The engineer, Brandon Bostian, has told investigators he does not recall anything that happened right before the crash.
In the preliminary report the NTSB released last week, investigators said forensic experts were examining Bostian’s phone and the phone records. The report said investigators had yet to determine if there was any phone activity during time the train was being operated.
Investigators have been frustrated by the lack of clarity about what went on inside the cab of the train that crashed. Currently, Amtrak trains have cameras facing outward, along with a so-called black box, or data recorder that measures locomotive and engineer actions.
Amtrak announced in late May that it would begin installing inward facing cameras
On the week of the accident, NTSB member Robert Sumwalt said Bostian could not remember anything beyond pulling the whistle as he drove past the North Philadelphia station, three miles earlier.
Why is it tking so long?? Did they announce anything at 9am?
Sheesh, they ALREADY know that the woman at the jail who befriended the escappes used her phone to contct known friends of the murderers.
The info on this will trickle out until no one cares about the crash. The engineer is part of a protected minority.
If he was not on the phone they could have just said he wasn’t. So.....
If we can build self driving cars that have to deal with multiple different variable .... why the hell can’t we build a self driving train?
Bttt
Probably a gay 900 number.
Because Republicans withhold infrastructure money to pay off their corporate buddies.
probably setting up a hot date with another homo activist
Can we spell Unions?
They had such technology going on in the mid-1980s. Look at the DC subway system. It was almost all automated in nature....up until the big accident about six years ago. Since then....they took down the bulk of automation. There’s talk of it returning by 2020.
If you look across Europe....there’s a handful of subway systems already experimenting with no drivers in the lead car. There’s already a general feeling that most all trains in Europe by 2030 will be without drivers. Simply a matter of time.
Six months ago in Germany...they ordered the Transporation Ministry to come up rules and regulations for driver-less cars/trucks. They’ve got two years to write the document. This kinda hints that they know by 2020....it’ll be happening with cars being actively sold. I would and suggest that by 2030....you won’t be able to buy any car within Germany without the driverless feature being normal. Within thirty years...most German kids won’t get a license....nor ever have to drive for the rest of their life.
They just released the news that he was NOT on the phone.
Who cares? This is a diversion from the salient facts. The train was running at 105 mph while approaching a 50 mph curve. The engineer was a Homosexual activist, and he very likely was trying to kill himself and all the passengers.
Whether he was on the phone or not has nothing to do with the fact that train speed had increased in such a manner that the engineer could not help but notice. That no (or very little) action was taken prior to the crash makes it quite clear that the train was doing what the Engineer wanted it to do.
Like that homosexual German Wings Airline pilot, he was trying to deliberately kill himself and his passengers.
This is why you don't let these people with severe psychiatric problems into positions of trust or power.
As far as I’m concerned, homosexuality is itself a psychiatric problem. An honest look at the statistics would show why.
What proportion of government employees are looking at Facebook (or the equivalent) on their cell phones instead of working at any point in time?
Big lawsuit being faced by Amtrak may be the cause of the delay
Desperately looking for anything that could point to inattention instead of the purposeful acceleration to 106 mph.
I suspect it has taken so long because there were vested interests who really wanted the phone to have been a factor.
Instead of something boring like low blood pressure or a blood sugar problem or anything else common and medical.
Perhaps they can salvage a chance to shill for Mooshelle Obama’s food restrictions out of this.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.