Investigators
are learning more about the speeding Amtrak train that derailed in
Philadelphia, killing eight and sending over 200 to the hospital, but
the jury is still out on the big questions.
Why
did the train accelerate as it approached a curve? Did the engineer
cause the train to speed up, or was there a mechanical failure? Was
there something about the track that caused the crash?
Amtrak engineer Brandon Bostian
has agreed to be interviewed by the National Transportation Safety
Board, and board member Robert Sumwalt is hopeful that Bostian will be
able to help answer some key questions. The 32-year-old engineer, who
was injured, will be permitted to bring his lawyer.
"What
I believe is a very good way to interview people is, honestly, to not
ask them questions, to basically give them a figurative blank sheet of
paper and ask them what they recall," Sumwalt said Thursday. "Really, we
want to know his account of what he recalls leading into this tragic
accident."
Investigators are looking at
a "good quality video" that shows the train speeding up in the moments
leading up to its derailment. They don't know yet what caused the train
to accelerate to more than 100 mph. Sumwalt said 65 seconds before the
end of the recording, the train speed went above 70 mph, and then
steadily increased.
"It just shows the speed alone," Sumwalt said. "It doesn't tell how the speed got there."
'No recollection' of crash
Bostian's
lawyer told ABC's "Good Morning America" his client "has absolutely no
recollection whatsoever" after losing consciousness in Tuesday night's
crash.
"He remembers coming into the
curve (and) attempting to reduce speed," attorney Robert Goggin said.
"... The last thing he recalls is coming to, looking for his bag,
getting his cell phone, turning it on and calling 911."
Initial
data show the train barreled into a curve at about 106 mph, Sumwalt
said. That's more than twice the 50-mph speed limit for the curve, and
above the 80-mph limit immediately before it.
The
engineer can't recall engaging the emergency brake, even though Sumwalt
has said he did so "just moments" before the train derailed. Goggin
thinks his client's memories may return as he recovers from a
concussion. Bostian has 15 staples in his head, stitches in one leg and
his other leg immobilized, according to his lawyer.
Goggin
insisted his client hadn't been talking or texting on his phone before
he made the 911 call. Nor did he have other notable accidents or
mishaps. And his lawyer said Bostian voluntarily took a blood test and
there was "no drinking, no drugs, no medical conditions. Nothing."
Mayor
Michael Nutter said the engineer did "a pretty short interview (then)
indicated that he didn't want" to talk more. The mayor noted Bostian
survived after his engine car "tumbled over and over" and that he
doesn't have to offer more information right away.
"He
doesn't have to be interviewed if he doesn't want to at this particular
stage," Nutter said. "That's kind of how the system works."
Goggin
says his client, who will talk with investigators "when they ask,"
already told them "everything he knew. He cooperated fully."
What we know about the engineer
8th body pulled from the wreckage
The
train, which was on time on its trip Washington to New York, was
carrying 238 passengers and five crew members when it derailed at about
9:30 p.m. Tuesday. Survivors recalled an otherwise sleepy, mundane ride
devolving into chaos as cars tilted and toppled, sending most everything
-- from luggage to laptops, from phones to people -- flying.
Eight people died.
They include Associated Press video software architect Jim Gaines, U.S.
Naval Academy Midshipman Justin Zemser and Derrick Griffith, a dean of
student affairs for City University of New York Medgar Evers College.
The
latest fatality is a person pulled from the wreckage of the first car
Thursday morning. City Fire Commissioner Derrick Sawyer said a call came
in around 8 a.m. "to bring back our cadaver dog," and after that "we
were able to find another passenger in the wreckage." That body was
taken to the medical examiner's office.
With
that discovery, Nutter said all 243 people thought to have been on the
train are accounted for. At least six people remain in critical
condition. But most of the more than 200 people injured have been or
will soon be released from hospitals.
"I
want to express my gratitude for the first responders, who raced to
save lives, and for the many passengers who, despite their own injuries,
made heroic efforts to get fellow passengers to safety," President
Barack Obama said Thursday, offering prayers for the victims.
Who were the victims?
Amtrak train crash victims tell their stories
Mayor calls engineer's driving 'reckless,' NTSB fires back
Bostian, the engineer, is among those recovering. As he does, Philadelphia's mayor singled him out.
In
a CNN interview Wednesday, Nutter called the engineer's driving
"reckless," adding, "There's no way in the world he should have been
going that fast into the curve."
"I
don't know what was going on with him. I don't know what was going on in
the cab, but there's really no excuse that can be offered, literally,
unless he had a heart attack."
Sumwalt, the NTSB board member, immediately blasted the mayor's comments as inflammatory.
"You're
not going to hear the NTSB making comments like that," he said. "We
want to get the facts before we start making judgments."
Investigators looking at speed as factor
Nutter
referenced his CNN comments during a Thursday afternoon press
conference, insisting he has the utmost respect for Sumwalt and the
NTSB. He said he'd spoken "from the heart" in the "heat of the moment,"
expressing an opinion as the mayor and as a citizen.
"In
no way, shape or form should my comments be taken as to be judgmental
about their process or what might happen or anything else. I often speak
from the heart," Nutter said, adding he was not interested in a public
back-and-forth with the NTSB. "It is literally meaningless in the whole
scheme of things."
Inconvenience for travelers, big hit for Amtrak
For
all the high emotions in Philadelphia, things were decidedly calmer at
that city's main train station and those in Washington and New York --
because many trains simply weren't running.
New
York's Penn Station was relatively sedate for a weekday, as evident by
rows of empty seats and Amtrak ticket counters. Local trains ran as
normal, and other workarounds were in place -- such as New Jersey
Transit honoring Amtrak tickets between New York City and Trenton, New
Jersey.
For many travelers, it was an inconvenience. But it's a big deal, and a big loss, for Amtrak.
The entity also known as the National Railroad Passenger Corporation had more than 31 million passengers
between October 2012 and September 2013. Far and away, its Northeast
Corridor is its busiest stretch, with more than a third of all
passengers.
Thus, Amtrak's three
busiest stations -- Penn Station, Philadelphia's 30th Street Station and
Washington's Union Station, with annual riderships between 10 and 4
million each -- are also the hardest hit.
Amtrak
CEO Joe Boardman said the crash was Amtrak's first in the Northeast
Corridor in 28 years, during which time 300 million passengers had
ridden its rails. He expects they'll be able to do so again next week,
starting with limited service between Philadelphia and New York on
Monday.
"We're really looking at full service by Tuesday," Boardman said.
Official: Technology could have prevented crash
The derailment was Amtrak's ninth this year, according to the Federal Railroad Administration.
But it's not just Amtrak. The FRA notes, for example, there were 35
derailments nationwide on main railways in a single month, January 2014.
It
happened again Thursday morning, when several cars from a cargo train
jumped the track in Pittsburgh's Hazelwood neighborhood, city spokesman
Timothy McNulty said. That derailment was relatively minor: McNulty said
there were "no passengers, no hazmat, no hazard."
But incidents such as the one in Philadelphia highlight questions about whether the nation's rail infrastructure is adequate.
Transportation
analyst Matthew L. Wald said the area where the train derailed Tuesday
has had problems, calling it "an extremely heavily used stretch of
track." While acknowledging some rails need to be replaced and curves
are worn, Boardman told CNN that, overall, the railway there is "in good
condition."
In addition to the track's
condition, there's a matter of the technology tied to it. Many have
noted this stretch did not have an automated speed control system called
positive train control that could have overridden human errors and
slowed the train down.
How does positive train control work?
In
2008, Congress ordered the nation's railroads to adopt positive train
control by December 2015 -- but it's looking increasingly unlikely that the deadline will be met.
"We
feel that had such a system been installed in this section of track,"
NTSB board member Sumwalt said, "this accident would not have occurred."
That will happen by year's end, Amtrak's Boardman pledged.
"We're
very close to being able to cut it in," Boardman said, noting that such
technology already exists elsewhere in the Amtrak system. "... We will
complete this."
Post a Comment