Thursday, May 14, 2015

2015 Philadelphia train derailment

2015 Philadelphia train derailment --- ===
tags: LGBT Incident  (suspect) Pennsylvania, railroad incident, (possible) deliberate operator crash, amnesia, no religion, political activist (train safety)

NTSB: We don't think the engineer crashed the train deliberately because we don't investigate criminal acts.  It was unclear whether the engineer manually increased the speed, but only the engineer could do so. He said that he did not think that the engineer crashed the train deliberately because "If we thought that, we wouldn't be here, because that would be a criminal act,"

7 killed 200 injured May 12, 2015,2015 Philadelphia train derailment Amtrak train bound derailed and crashed taking curve too fast in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania while traveling over 100 miles per hour. Investigators can't think of any possible explanation how a manually driven train can be made to accelerate too fast for the curve. The driver claims he doesn't remember anything, while it is highly unlikely a medical or mechanical condition could explain the mysterious acceleration. Media pointed to only a minor possibility it could have been a deliberate act by the engineer.  Brandon Bostian had moved up the career ladder from Target cashier to brakeman, to conductor to train engineer. He had  made political statements about train safety devices and marriage equality. NTSB board member Robert Sumwalt stated that all the information pointed to something drastically wrong in that engine with the engineer. He said it was unclear whether the engineer manually increased the speed, but only the engineer could do so. He said that he did not think that the engineer crashed the train deliberately because "If we thought that, we wouldn't be here, because that would be a criminal act," he said. "And we don't investigate criminal acts." Bostian avoid talking to law enforcement, but agreed to be interviewed by the NTSB, which is not a law enforcement agency.

The final conclusion blamed engineer Brandon Bostian who was suspended without pay. Apparently , he heard about the rock-throwing on the radio and was so preoccupied by it that he lost track of where he was and [manually and deliberately] accelerated full-throttle to 106 mph as he went into a sharp curve with a 50 mph speed limit,

May 9, 2017, Philadelphia prosecutors said Bostian, the train's engineer, would not face any criminal charges because there was no evidence that he had acted with criminal intent.[75] On May 12, 2017, Philadelphia Municipal Court Judge Marsha Neifield ordered prosecutors to file involuntary manslaughter and reckless endangerment charges against Bostian; the district attorney referred the matter to Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro.[76] On May 18, 2017, Shapiro charged Bostian with eight counts of involuntary manslaughter, one count for each of those who died in the wreck; causing a catastrophe; and numerous counts of reckless endangerment. The charges were filed just before the two-year statute of limitations expired for the reckless-endangerment charges.[77][78][79][80] On September 12, 2017, Philadelphia Municipal Court Judge Thomas Gehret dismissed all charges against Bostian, ruling after a preliminary hearing that the evidence did not support criminal charges and that the derailment was "more likely than not" an accident.[46]
Facts
  • acceleration unexplained: Investigators said they don't know why the train rapidly accelerated 65 seconds before crashing, reports CBS News' Kris Van Cleave. The train came barreling into the curve of the tracks, according to the National Transportation Safety Board's Robert Sumwalt, and Bostian applied the emergency brake seconds before the crash. "Sixty-five seconds before the end of the recording, train speed went above 70 miles an hour... 16 seconds before end the recording, the train sped through 100 mph," Sumwalt said.  next thing the engineer remembered was coming to, looking for his bag, retrieving his cellphone and calling 911 for help. He said the engineer's cellphone was off and stored in his bag before the accident, as required.
  • attorney:  attorney Robert Goggin told ABC News on Wednesday night that Bostian had no explanation for the crash and no recollection of it either.42.ie
  • awareness:  requires the engineer to push a red button several times every  minute to confirm they are paying attention or else it goes into an emergency shutdown mode. Amtrak Train Crash Brought Out Trump's Worst—and NTSB's Best  year after the May 2015 derailment of Amtrak 188 killed eight outside Philadelphia, the NTSB announced that it had determined the accident “was the result of a loss of situational awareness ...
  • brakes: engineer hit the emergency brakes moments before the crash but slowed the train to only 102 mph by the time the locomotive's black box stopped recording data, according to Sumwalt. The speed limit just before the bend is 80 mph, he said.
  • Computer failure:  Bostian did not manually increase the speed of the train, leaving only two possibilities. Either the train engine’s modern computing equipment malfunctioned. Or its network was compromised by a cyber attack.
  • Dave Levine (radio talk) Show, writes on his blog: Is he an Islamist? Was he drunk? Did he pass out at the wheel? Was he on drugs? Did he simply fall asleep?  he refused to answer police questions and got “lawyered up” right away.
  • Deliberate no evidence: engineer later told police he didn’t recall how fast he was going [even though it's his job to know]. Officials know that train accelerated, but can’t confirm that the speed-up of the train was manual and done intentionally by the engineer. The train does not have an automatic throttle, but is investigating to see whether a “mechanical anomaly” [no evidence or reason to believe this] caused the jump in speed.(billypenn)
  • Deliberate: NTSB to issue final report in Amtrak derailment that killed 8 in ... www.post-gazette.com/news/.../2016/06/...Amtrak...derailment.../201606080154 Jun 8, 2016 - NTSB to issue final report in Amtrak derailment that killed 8 in Philadelphia ... facts leave the door open for a criminal charge. "It is my considered opinion that there are grounds for charges at a minimum for reckless endangerment based upon conscious and deliberate actions that need to be taken by Mr. Bostian to have the train going 106 mph," commonwealth's legal definition of recklessness requires a "gross deviation" from normal behavior under the circumstances. That's a high burden of proof, said Lynne M. Abraham, who was Philadelphia's district attorney for almost 20 years. Abraham said she felt it would be difficult to meet in the Amtrak case. "A reasonable fact-finder," she said, "would be hard-pressed to find on these facts as we know them at this moment that [Bostian] was criminally negligent."
  • Train sped up before Frankford curve  NTSB officials said they had not yet determined why the train accelerated so rapidly..unclear whether the engineer manually increased the speed - but that only the engineer could do so. He said that he did not think that the engineer crashed the train deliberately. "If we thought that, we wouldn't be here, because that would be a criminal act," he said. "And we don't investigate criminal acts."
  • Deliberate:  Could a technical glitch have caused the locomotive to speed up so rapidly? Would it take a deliberate action by the engineer? Or could human error, a medical issue, or some other factor like clumsiness explain the sudden burst of speed? reuters sandrose: Did Engineer Deliberately Crash ... Whether this was a deliberate act remains to be seen, government is often hard-pressed to admit terrorism...  cover up with Bostian as the convenient scapegoat is not out of the question.  Was it a deliberate act by the engineer? AP May 18, 2015 Philadelphia train deliberately sped up prior to crash 
  • Deliberate not: By all accounts thus far, Bostian did not manually increase the speed of the train, leaving only two possibilities. Either the train engine’s modern computing equipment malfunctioned. Or its network was compromised by a cyber attack.
  • Deliberate not ruled out Reuters train accelerated to 106 mph from 70 in the minute before it derailed. The NTSB has not ruled out mechanical issues, human error or a deliberate act by the engineer, among other factors. May 2015
  • distracted:  distracted him. He lost focus, and he thought he already went through the turn and that’s why he was accelerating," the consultant said.
  • driver:  suffered a concussion and had 14 staples put into his skull. An Amtrak engineer since 2010, Bostian submitted his blood for a drug and alcohol screening.
  • Facebook Likes” include: Rethink Church The Rock Campus Church Out Professionals Memphis Gay & Lesbian Community Center The Outs
  • germanwings:  Brandon Bostian, Philadelphia Amtrak 188 Engineer Doing A Germanwings?  ruled out terrorism but Bostian, was up to SOMETHING. He had to accelerate that train from a dead stop, at Philadelphia’s station, to 106 mph in less than 10 minutes. 
  • "He remembers coming into curve. He remembers attempting to reduce speed and thereafter he was knocked out," Goggin said. But he said Bostian does not recall anything out of the ordinary and does not remember using the emergency brake, which investigators say was applied moments before the crash. memory: lawyer: he has absolutely no recollection of the events.  traumatic injury could have caused post-traumatic amnesia, said CNN’s Sanjay Gupta can't remember anything after leaving station until after the crash.
  • Reckless Philly mayor denounces 'reckless' engineer | TheHill  Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter (D) blamed an Amtrak engineer ...“Clearly, it was reckless in terms of the driving by the engineer,” Bostian reportedly refused to give a statement to the Philadelphia ...
  • Speed: The train was going twice the speed limit," Boehner said.
    LGBT: Germanwings Alps disaster: Co-pilot Andreas Lubitz trawled suicide and gay websites before crash ibtimes Germanwings crash and Amtrak especially active with the Memphis chapter of the LGBT. But more recently he's been active in pro-government gay marriage demonstrations in Philadelphia. ... Bostian had no prior engineering experience before working for Amtrak. His degree was in Business Administration.
  • Terrorist attack My friend Brandon Bostian,  s discovered to have participated in a rally for marriage equality, so he was defined as a "gay activist" in many reports. Conservative media in particular clung to this; some outlets went so far as to claim that his sexual orientation somehow factored into the incident.
  • demonstrations in Philadelphia.  
  • New The engine that powered Amtrak 188 was only in service a little over a year and had no reported history of unintended acceleration. 
  • Manual: train, as designed, can only be accelerated by manual control, but the NTSB would examine whether a mechanical malfunction could have caused the train to speed up on its own. board member Robert Sumwalt said it’s unclear whether the speed was increased manually by engineer Brandon Bostian
  • Mayor:  Michael Nutter said the engineer was clearly "reckless and irresponsible." "Part of the focus has to be, what was the engineer doing?" Nutter said. "Why are you traveling at that rate of speed?"  “I don’t think that any commonsense, rational person would think that it was OK to travel at that level of speed knowing that there was a pretty significant restriction on how fast you could go through that turn.” has since distanced himself somewhat from the remark and said he was merely being “expressive”.
  • medical possible the engineer lost awareness of the train's location due to some medical condition.
  • Terrorist attack My friend Brandon Bostian, the Amtrak 188 engineer | Bleader
    https://www.chicagoreader.com/.../my-friend-brandon-bostian-the-amtrak-188-engine...
    Jun 30, 2015 - With no indication of a mechanical failure or a terrorist attack, the media turned its gaze toward the train's engineer—and my college friend—32-year-old Brandon Bostian. He'd been at the helm when the train mysteriously doubled in speed. He also provided no explanation for it (though he had sustained a ...He was discovered to have participated in a rally for marriage equality, so he was defined as a "gay activist" in many reports. Conservative media in particular clung to this; some outlets went so far as to claim that his sexual orientation somehow factored into the incident.
  • Throttle conductor turned consultant...unlikely that a mechanical issue caused the acceleration, NTSB has not ruled out that possibility. never heard of a train accelerating without someone moving the throttle.  possible the engineer could have fallen and moved the throttle. 
*bio

Writing for CNN, May 14, 2015, Holly Yan says this is what we know about Brandon Bostian:
  • active with the Memphis chapter of the LGBT gay marriage demonstrations in Philadelphia.  
  • He has been an Amtrak engineer since 2010, according to his LinkedIn profile. Before that, he was an Amtrak conductor for four years.
  • He graduated from the University of Missouri in 2006 with a degree in business administration and management.
  • no prior engineering experience before working for Amtrak. His degree was in Business Administration. Before working for Amtrak he was a cashier at Target
  • He now lives in Queens, NY.
  • Bostian’s attorney, Robert Goggin, told ABC’s “Good Morning America” that his client “was beat up” in the crash. “He has 15 staples in his head, stitches in one leg, the other knee is immobilized.”
  • Goggin said Bostian suffered a concussion and doesn’t remember why the train was going so fast, “I believe as a result of the concussion, he has absolutely no recollection whatsoever of the events. I’m told that his memory is likely to return as the concussion symptoms subside.” Bostian’s last memory before the crash was trying to slow down before the curve.
  • Neighbor Moresh Koya described Bostian as a responsible, nice guy who enjoyed his job: “He liked it. He was happy working there.”

*Deliberate

Revealed: Amtrak train accelerated from 70 to 106mph in seconds before crash and speed control system that could have prevented deadly derailment WAS installed but not turned on  DailyMail he doesn't think he did it deliberately. He said: 'If we thought that, we wouldn't be here, because that would be a criminal act. 'And we don't investigate criminal acts.'

Pictured: 'Reckless' Amtrak engineer, 32, who was driving doomed train at 106mph in a 50mph zone claims he has no memory of crash that killed seven - with a DOZEN passengers still missing
Brandon Bostian, 32, was driving the New York-bound train when it came off the tracks in Philadelphia on Tuesday night, killing seven
The Memphis, Tennessee-native has been an Amtrak engineer since 2009
He was interviewed by police over six hours, has given a blood test and has handed over his cell phone to authorities
His attorney said he had no memory of the deadly crash and that he had not been drinking or taking any medications
Officials have said about a dozen people are still unaccounted for
Friends are supporting Bostian online: 'It could have been any one of us'
The NTSB has confirmed the train was speeding before it came off tracks
Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter says the driving was 'reckless'


Amtrak train accelerated from 70 to 102mph in seconds before crash and speed control system that could have prevented deadly derailment WAS installed but not turned on  NTSB said the commuter service was travelling at twice the speed limit  Engineer Brandon Bostian hit the emergency brakes - but it was too late  By Wills Robinson For Dailymail.com The agency are trying to figure out whether he increased the speed of the train manually   NTSB board member Robert Sumwalt said it was unclear whether Bostian had manually increased the speed - but insisted he was the only one who could have done it. However he doesn't think he did it deliberately. He said: 'If we thought that, we wouldn't be here, because that would be a criminal act. 'And we don't investigate criminal acts.'

Amtrak Engineer Brandon Bostian Cell Phone Records: Investigators Obtain Warrant, Will Search Records  May 15 2015 A member of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), Robert L. Sumwalt, said only the engineer could manually increase the speed. However, Sumwalt said Bostian is not suspected of deliberately crashing the train. "If we thought that, we wouldn't be here, because that would be a criminal act," he said. "And we don't investigate criminal acts."

Train sped up before Frankford curve  NTSB officials said they had not yet determined why the train accelerated so rapidly. ... NTSB board member Robert Sumwalt said that he would "let [the figures on the crash] stand on their own."

He said it was unclear whether the engineer manually increased the speed - but that only the engineer could do so. He said that he did not think that the engineer crashed the train deliberately.

"If we thought that, we wouldn't be here, because that would be a criminal act," he said. "And we don't investigate criminal acts."

... He has agreed to be interviewed by the NTSB, which is not a law enforcement agency, officials said....  After the NTSB announced the acceleration issue, Nutter said: "You put all this information together. All it says is something went drastically wrong in that engine with the engineer."

Sumwalt said the NTSB wants to review the train's data recorder, which will reveal throttle positions, before determining whether the engineer manually accelerated. The engineer would have had to move the throttle to speed up.
..
Bostian suffered a concussion and was unable to recall the crash or applying the emergency brakes.

...Officials familiar with the investigation countered that description, and said that so far the engineer's contact with police had been perfunctory,(carried out with a minimum of effort or reflection. ) adding that he had refused to speak to police in any detail about the crash. They said Bostian had spent his time at the East Detective Division waiting for his lawyer to arrive, not speaking with investigators. The only time he was questioned by detectives, they said, was during a brief conversation at Einstein Hospital. Nutter told reporters that Bostian had told detectives he did not want to be formally interviewed.

*Disinformation

http://nodisinfo.com/philadelphia-amtrak-train-crash-and-derailment-an-analysis/  similar accident occurred in 2013, in this case when an Amtrak engineered nodded at the helm, leading to, once again, a derailment on a curve:  It has been stated repeatedly that in this newer case the engineer, Brandon Bostian, may have been at fault. Yet, there is no definitive evidence established proving this to be the case: A colleague, Michael Callanan, who says he trained Mr. Bostian and fully knows the route, disputes the claim that the engineer is to blame and says that there could well have been exterior factors other than human error that were responsible.

*wikipedia

No mention of word "deliberate" 

2015 Philadelphia train derailment


On May 12, 2015, an Amtrak Northeast Regional train from Washington, D.C. bound for New York Cityderailed and wrecked on the Northeast Corridor in the Port Richmond neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Of 238 passengers and 5 crew on board, 8 were killed and over 200 injured, 11 critically. The train was traveling at 102 mph (164 km/h) in a 50 mph (80 km/h) zone of curved tracks when it derailed.
Some of the passengers had to be extricated from the wrecked cars. Many of the passengers and local residents helped first responders during the rescue operation. Five local hospitals treated the injured. The derailment disrupted train service for several days.
The National Transportation Safety Board ruled that the derailment was caused by the train's engineer (driver) becoming distracted by other radio transmissions and losing situational awareness, and said that it would have been prevented by positive train control, a computerized speed-limiting system that was operational elsewhere on the Northeast Corridor, but whose activation at the wreck site had been delayed due to regulatory requirements. The track in question was also not equipped with ATC (automatic train control), an older and simpler system which had been operational for years on the southbound track of the curve at which the derailment occurred, and which also would have limited the train's speed entering the curve.[3] Shortly after the derailment, Amtrak completed ATC installation on the northbound track.[4]
The 2015 wreck was the deadliest on the Northeast Corridor since 1987, when 16 people died in a wreck near Baltimore.[1][5]

Derailment[edit]

Map of the train's position following the accident
Aerial view of the derailed train
At about 9:10 p.m. (EDT) on Tuesday, May 12, 2015, Amtrak's northbound Northeast Regional No. 188 departed Philadelphia's 30th Street Station en route from Washington, D.C., to New York City.[2][6][7] The train consisted of seven cars hauled by a year-old Amtrak Cities Sprinter (ACS)-64 locomotive, No. 601. The engineer was Brandon Bostian, who had begun working the route a few weeks prior.[8]
The train entered a four-degree left curve on the four-track line[9] at the railroad's Frankford Junction in the Port Richmondneighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, near the intersection of Frankford Avenue and Wheatsheaf Lane, and it derailed and wrecked at 9:23 p.m.(EDT).[10] Passengers reported that the front of the train shook at first, then came to a sudden stop.[11] The entire train went off the track, with three cars rolling onto their sides.[12][13][14] The train sustained at least $9.2 million in estimated damages.[15]
The train should have been slowing to approach the curve with a reduced speed limit of 80 mph (130 km/h) in its approach and 50 mph (80 km/h) within it,[2][13][16][17] but instead, it had accelerated into the curve and was traveling at 106 mph (171 km/h) when its engineer[8] applied the emergency brake, and 102 mph (164 km/h) when it derailed,[18] according to Robert L. Sumwalt, the National Transportation Safety Board's lead investigator, who cited the onboard event recorder recovered from the wreckage. Investigators are working to determine why the train entered the curve at such a high speed. The windshield of the locomotive may have been hit by a projectile shortly before the derailment.[19]
Proponents argue the train should have been equipped with positive train control (PTC), which can automatically stop a train or slow it to a safe speed if the engineer fails to do so in time. Amtrak officials said PTC had been installed on the tracks ahead of a Congress-mandated December 2015 deadline, but had yet to be operational due to "budgetary shortfalls, technical hurdles and bureaucratic rules". For four years, the railroad struggled with the FCC to purchase the rights to airwaves in the Northeast Corridor required for PTC,[20] which might have limited the train's speed and thereby prevented the wreck. During a press conference, NTSB member Robert Sumwalt told reporters, "Based on what we know right now, we feel that had such a system been installed in this section of track, this accident would not have occurred."[21][22][23] The track in question was not equipped with ATC (Automatic Train Control), which had been operational for years on the southbound track of the curve at which the derailment occurred, and which also would have limited the train's speed entering the curve. Shortly after the derailment, Amtrak completed that ATC installation on the northbound track.[4]
This fatal derailment was the second at Frankford Junction. On September 6, 1943, on the same tracks and within two blocks of the 2015 wreck site, an extra section of the Congressional Limited, then the Pennsylvania Railroad's premier Washington-to-New York service, derailed approaching the same curve en route to New York, killing 79 people and injuring 117 others.[24]

Immediate aftermath[edit]

ACS-64 locomotive 601 led the train that derailed.
Some passengers were able to walk off the train, while others needed to be rescued with cutting tools.[25] Eventually, a crane was brought to the site to lift the overturned train cars, in part to search for trapped victims.[2][6]
More than 200 passengers were treated at area hospitals, including Temple University Hospital, Aria Health, Hahnemann University Hospital, Jefferson University Hospital, and Einstein Medical Center. Most of the injured passengers sustained minor lacerations and contusions, while some also had fractured bones; 11 were critically injured.[2][26] Bostian, the engineer, survived the wreck with leg injuries, a concussion, and a head wound.[1][26][27]
Eight passengers died, including one at Temple University Hospital.[1][14] The dead were Jim Gaines, a software architect;[2] Abid Gilani, a business executive; Bob Gildersleeve, who worked for a chemical and soap supplier; Derrick Griffith, a dean for student affairs at City University of New York Medgar Evers College; Rachel Jacobs, CEO of ApprenNet, an educational technology startup company; Justin Zemser, a midshipman at the United States Naval Academy; Laura Finamore, managing director of a Manhattan real estate firm; and Giuseppe Piras, a Sardinian businessman visiting the United States to promote his family's olive oil business.[28][29]
Another passenger, former Congressman Patrick Murphy, said: "There was a lot of mayhem. A lot of blood, a lot of bleeding. I pulled myself up. The guy who I kind of landed on was OK. The guy next to him was completely passed out, knocked unconscious. People were pretty banged up." He said that after the train derailed, there were loud banging sounds and the train was shaking. Murphy, who sustained minor injuries in the wreck, helped other passengers leave the train.[6] The man seated next to Murphy eventually regained consciousness, walked off the train, and helped other passengers.[26] Delaware Senator Tom Carper had been on the same train, but got off at an earlier stop in Wilmington, Delaware.[30] Chef Eli Kulp was among the badly injured passengers.[31][32]
Paul Cheung, an Associated Press manager, was also on the train. He said that before the train derailed, it "started to decelerate, like someone had slammed the brake. Then suddenly you could see everything starting to shake. You could see people’s stuff flying over me."[6] Passenger Daniel Wetrin was taken to a nearby school after the wreck. He said, "I walked off as if, like, I was in a movie. There were people standing around, people with bloody faces … power cables all buckled down as you stepped off the train."[6] Another man took a cell phone video of the wreck's aftermath, in which rescuers are telling trapped passengers to crawl to safety, while other passengers cry and moan.[6] One Port Richmond resident said the wreck felt like "a mild earthquake"; another said it "sounded like a bomb."[33]

Mass transit adjustments[edit]

The virtually empty Amtrak waiting area of New York Penn Station on May 14 as dozens of trains were cancelled between Philadelphia and New York

Regulatory response[edit]

On May 19, 2015, the Federal Railroad Administration issued an emergency order to Amtrak related to the derailment. It required Amtrak to modify its automatic train control system to enforce the passenger train speed limit on the curve where the derailment occurred, while noting that Amtrak had already implemented the changes at the time of the order. It also required Amtrak to identify other curves on the Northeast Corridor with a more than 20 mph drop in the authorized approach speed and carry out similar changes, and to install additional passenger-train speed-limit signage.[39][40]

Investigation and NTSB findings[edit]

NTSB investigators arrive on the scene of the derailment
After an initial investigation of the scene, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said there was not any indication that the derailment was terrorism-related.[6][41] An NTSB team also investigated.[11] Preliminary information suggested that the derailment was accidental, according to informal statements made by both agencies, which continue to investigate.[35][42]However, by early June authorities admitted that they still could not understand the reason for the incident.[43] Investigators are focusing on why the train entered the curve too fast; it passed 70 mph (110 km/h) at 65 seconds before the wreck, 100 mph (160 km/h) just 16 seconds before, and the emergency brake was applied just seconds before the wreck.[44][45]All of the locomotives' controls could only be manipulated manually by the engineer when it derailed. The engine was not aging equipment as it was only a year old and had no reported history of unintended acceleration.[44] Bostian was not talking on the phone, texting or using smartphone data during the accident, nor was he using alcohol or drugs.[46] The NTSB has told Congress that human error is a likely factor.[47]
Bostian's lawyer said that his client does not recall much about the accident because of a concussion he sustained in the wreck, but that "he remembers coming into curve. He remembers attempting to reduce speed and thereafter he was knocked out."[45] The NTSB interviewed Bostian on May 15, who said he had "no recollection" of events after the train passed North Philadelphia station. Lead NTSB investigator Robert Sumwalt said Bostian was "extremely cooperative".[48]Earlier, Sumwalt had said, "for somebody who's been through a traumatic event, this is not at all unusual for human behavior to have the mind blank out things like that, at least for the short term."[1][27][49]
According to The New York Times Magazine, investigators focused two possibilities: that a rock hit the windshield of the locomotive and caused Bostian to be distracted or disoriented, or that he mistakenly believed he was in a different curve. Both would result in Bostian losing situational awareness and allowing the train to enter the curve too fast.[50]
At a hearing on May 17, 2016, the National Transportation Safety Board reported that the primary cause of the derailment was a loss of situational awareness by the train's operator, likely caused by distracting radio chatter from a nearby SEPTA train that had experienced an emergency situation. Somebody had thrown a rock at the SEPTA train's windshield, causing it to shatter and blind the conductor. This distraction resulted in the operator believing he was further down the track than he was, thus accelerating the train before the curve rather than after it. The board concluded that the accident would have been entirely prevented if the line was equipped with positive train control, which would have recognized and applied the appropriate speed limit, and chairman Christopher A. Hart called on federal railroad regulators to "end this list of PTC preventable fatalities and injuries right now."[51]

Response of politicians[edit]

Four investigators look at one of the damaged train cars with Amtrak marked on the side
Investigators inspect the derailed locomotive
Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter said of the wreck, "It is an absolute disastrous mess."[6] Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf said, "Anything that the state can do, we stand ready to do that."[6] Amtrak was "deeply saddened by the loss of life from Amtrak Northeast Regional Train 188," according to a statement released on May 13.[6] Vice President Joe Bidensaid, "Amtrak is like a second family to me, as it is for so many other passengers." He said he had taken about 8,000 Amtrak trips to and from Washington during his career.[52]
President Barack Obama, in his statement following the accident, said:
Along with Americans across our country, Michelle and I were shocked and deeply saddened to hear of the derailment aboard Amtrak Train 188. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families and friends of those we lost last night, and to the many passengers who today begin their long road to recovery. Along the Northeast Corridor, Amtrak is a way of life for many. From Washington, DC and Philadelphia to New York City, this is a tragedy that touches us all. As we work to determine exactly what happened, I commend the fire, police and medical personnel working tirelessly and professionally to save lives. Philadelphia is known as the city of brotherly love – a city of neighborhoods and neighbors – and that spirit of loving-kindness was reaffirmed last night, as hundreds of first responders and passengers lent a hand to their fellow human beings in need.[53]
The day following the derailment, the U.S. House Appropriations Committee passed a measure to cut $260 million from Amtrak's $1.36 billion budget for the next fiscal year. Democrat Nita Lowey said, "While we don't know the cause of this accident, we do know that starving rail of funding will not enable safer train travel." In the same meeting, some Republicans criticized Democrats for linking the budget to the wreck. Idaho Rep. Mike Simpson admonished the Democrats for taking advantage of the situation, saying, "Don't use this tragedy in that way. It was beneath you."[54][55][56]

Resulting changes[edit]

As a result of the derailment and in particular the inability of the engineer to remember the wreck, Amtrak installed inward-facing cameras in its locomotives in 2015 and 2016, recording the actions of engineers before any future accidents.[57] Amtrak completed installation of the ACSES positive train control system on the entire Northeast Corridor between Washington and Boston in December 2015.[58]

Litigation[edit]

While §161(a) of the "Amtrak Reform and Accountability Act of 1997" (ARAA)[59] capped the total liability (including for punitive damages) of Amtrak and all other defendants in any single passenger train accident at $200 million,[60][61] a Bill (S. 1360) introduced by US Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) on May 18, 2015, would if passed raise that limit to $500 million retroactive to May 12, 2015, the date of the Philadelphia derailment.[62][63] If the ARAA imposed statutory liability limit proves insufficient to cover all damages and it is not raised by Congress, however, some plaintiffs' attorneys have already stated that the constitutionality of the $200 million cap would be challenged.[64]
In early July, 2015 both Amtrak and the plaintiffs in the multiple Federal civil lawsuits filed against the company in US District Courts in Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey requested that all then existing and future such actions be transferred to and heard in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (EDPA) in Philadelphia under the management of the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (MDL) as provided for by 28 U.S.C. §1407[65] as a centralized process to considerably speed up litigation by conserving the resources of the parties and judiciary, avoiding duplication of discovery, and preventing inconsistent pretrial rulings.[66][67] All the consolidated cases have been assigned to U.S. District Judge Legrome D. Davis.[68][69] In answers filed by Amtrak with that Court on July 10, 2015, in response to the first two-passenger lawsuits[70] the company admitted fault by stipulating[71] as "true"[72] that the train was "traveling in excess of the allowable speed" when it derailed and thus Amtrak "will not contest liability for compensatory damages proximately caused by the derailment of Train 188 on May 12, 2015".[73]
April 6, 2016, a Pennsylvania federal judge on Wednesday refused to grant settlement class certification to two passengers suing Amtrak over a train’s derailment last year in Philadelphia, ruling that damages capped at $295 million would likely be reduced in related multidistrict litigation, according to Plaintiff Attorney Evan K Aidman.[clarification needed][74]

Criminal investigation, charges and dismissal[edit]

On May 9, 2017, Philadelphia prosecutors said Bostian, the train's engineer, would not face any criminal charges because there was no evidence that he had acted with criminal intent.[75] On May 12, 2017, Philadelphia Municipal Court Judge Marsha Neifield ordered prosecutors to file involuntary manslaughter and reckless endangerment charges against Bostian; the district attorney referred the matter to Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro.[76] On May 18, 2017, Shapiro charged Bostian with eight counts of involuntary manslaughter, one count for each of those who died in the wreck; causing a catastrophe; and numerous counts of reckless endangerment. The charges were filed just before the two-year statute of limitations expired for the reckless-endangerment charges.[77][78][79][80] On September 12, 2017, Philadelphia Municipal Court Judge Thomas Gehret dismissed all charges against Bostian, ruling after a preliminary hearing that the evidence did not support criminal charges and that the derailment was "more likely than not" an accident.[46]

See also[edit]

References[edit]


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Further reading[edit]

External links[edit]






*sources 

5/18/2016

Amtrak victims: NSTB investigative findings hard to believe
Fox News - ‎1 hour ago‎
WASHINGTON - Victims of last year's deadly Amtrak derailment aren't buying the findings of federal investigators that the train's engineer likely lost his bearings because he was distracted by an incident with a nearby train.

5/17/2016

Investigators: Amtrak engineer distracted in fatal crash
USA TODAY‎ - 23 hours agoWASHINGTON – An Amtrak engineer caused a fatal crash in Philadelphia after careening ...

NTSB: Amtrak engineer went 'from distraction to disaster' in seconds
6abc.com‎ - 1 day ago
Amtrak Engineer Was Distracted Before Fatal 2015 Crash, NTSB Says
Wall Street Journal‎ - 1 day agoMore news for amtrak crash distracted

Reports: Amtrak crash to be blamed on distracted engineer - USA Today
www.usatoday.com/story/news/.../amtrak-crash-distracted.../84464808/
USA Today1 day ago - Federal crash investigators are expected to rule Tuesday that the engineer in the fatalAmtrak crash in Philadelphia a year ago was distracted ...

Amtrak Engineer Was Distracted Before Fatal 2015 Crash, NTSB Says ...
www.wsj.com/.../ntsb-says-engineer-in-2015-philadelphia-amtra...
The Wall Street Journal1 day ago - Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board determined that the conductor of the Amtrak train that derailed and killed eight passengers in the May 2015 crash lost “situational awareness” as he rounded a curve in Philadelphia. ... The Amtrak engineer driving the ...

Amtrak 188 engineer distracted prior to derailment - CNNPolitics.com
www.cnn.com/2016/05/16/politics/amtrak-188-derailment-engineer-distracted/
CNN1 day ago - A federal investigation into the Amtrak 188 derailment that killed eight ... Bostian, wasdistracted prior to the crash, according to a U.S. official.

Distracted Engineer Blamed in Deadly Amtrak Wreck - ABC News
abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/feds-vote-probable-deadly-amtrak-derailment-391596791 day ago - The Amtrak engineer whose speeding train ran off the rails in Philadelphia last year was apparently distracted by word that a train nearby had ... engineer whose speeding train ran off the rails in Philadelphia last year was apparently distracted by word that a train nearby had been hit by a rock, federal investigators concluded Tuesday, pinning most of the blame on him for the wreck that killed eight people.... Engineer Brandon Bostian heard about the rock-throwing on the radio and was apparently so preoccupied by it that he lost track of where he was and [manually and deliberately] accelerated full-throttle to 106 mph as he went into a sharp curve with a 50 mph speed limit, investigators said at an NTSB hearing to pinpoint the cause of the May 12, 2015, derailment

Bostian, who has been suspended without pay since the crash for speeding, did not attend the hearing. He and his lawyer did not immediately return calls and emails seeking comment.
5/16/2016 

Philly Train Crash Was Likely Caused by Distracted Engineer: Source ...
www.nbcnews.com/.../source-nbc-news-philly-train-crash-caused-distr...
NBCNews.com2 days ago - The engineer of the Amtrak train that ran off the rails outside Philadelphia in May 2015, killing eight people, was likely distracted by radio dispatches, a source close to the investigation told NBC News on Monday. ... The engineer at the controls of the Amtrak 188 told investigators ...

Radio transmissions distracted Amtrak engineer before Philadelphia ...
www.foxnews.com/.../radio-transmissions-distracted-amtrak-engine...
Fox News Channel2 days ago - An Amtrak engineer whose speeding train jumped the tracks along a ... distracted Amtrak engineer before Philadelphia crash, official says.


Philadelphia Amtrak crash: distracted engineer largely to blame ...
www.theguardian.com › Business › Amtrak
The Guardian23 hours ago - Philadelphia Amtrak crash: distracted engineer largely to blame, officials say. Investigators point to Brandon Bostian's concern over a nearby ...



Sources: Engineer distracted before Amtrak 188 crash | 6abc.com
6abc.com/news/sources-engineer-distracted-before-amtrak-188-crash/1341074/
2 days ago - The National Transportation Safety Board has concluded the engineer of Amtrak 188 wasdistracted prior to crashing in Philadelphia leaving ...

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