Northeast Regional 188 - Accident In Philadelphia

OK, I've now read the article in print sitting in my Ekornes Stressless easy chair, which means "I've read it".

My overall impression is that it is an ill-timed human interest story long on the interest, short on fact. In view of the imminent release of the NTSB Preliminary Report, publication of this article, could have waited until that document is within the public domain.

But the fact remains "Amtrak owns it", and there are reportedly $150M in claims pending, as well as possible criminal prosecution. Much as I wish I didn't have to say this, Gray Lady allowed more speculation to appear in print than "we" have allowed ourselves here at the Forum.

scoostraw wrote:A friend of mine is a psychologist. When this accident occurred and the engineer was identified, she looked at photos of him and wondered if maybe he had experienced a seizure of some kind - maybe a first for him. This is speculation of course, but something in the look of his eyes made her suspect this. If this did occur, he would not recall what happened - which fits the scenario.

If I may expand on that theory... there is also the possibility that he had a seizure of some kind, and yet all medical exams and tests are coming back negative, and doctors are baffled. I say this because just after Thanksgiving, a cousin of mine had some kind of seizure and blackout. His wife called 911 and he was taken to the hospital (the EMS crew was able to revive him). After numerous tests over the next two weeks... none of the doctors have a clue what even happened to him, and all tests show nothing out of the ordinary. There is no sign he suffered any medical distress. Yet his wife and both of his children, along with another relative, all witnessed the event, and he has no memory of what happened in the minutes before the event, or that it even happened.

Again, like you said, anything is possible.... and we may never know.

http://6abc.com/news/photos-onboard-ima ... -/1181662/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

WASHINGTON -- The National Transportation Safety Board released images from a camera on Amtrak train 188, showing the moments of the May, 2015 crash in Philadelphia that left eight people dead.

The train was bound for New York City.

The images show the train heading into a turn in the Port Richmond section of the city, where it would derail. At one point, the picture goes completely white, only to return to show the train's final moments.

The Wall Street Journal has posted at their site an article with further information. In essence, "the train and infrastructure are off the hook":

http://www.wsj.com/articles/philadelphi ... 1454350232" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Fair Use:

Investigators probing the deadly Amtrak derailment in Philadelphia last May have ruled out issues with the locomotive, track or train signals as causes, an official with the National Transportation Safety Board said Monday.

The NSTB released a trove of documents from its investigation on Monday. While the safety board didn’t identify a probable cause of the accident, the elimination of those factors appeared to winnow down the potential causes to the actions of the engineer behind the train’s controls.

The NTSB official said investigators had twice interviewed the engineer, Brandon Bostian. The official described Mr. Bostian as “extremely cooperative.”

The board is expected to formally declare a probable cause this spring.

Regardless of what is contained within the Final Report, we must not lose sight that "Amtrak owns it", as distinct from Tonti, where the IC owned that one, and under then existing contractual relationships, assumed all liability arising from such.

re: the white flash on the pictures .... catenary flash, as the derailment starts?

litz wrote:re: the white flash on the pictures .... catenary flash, as the derailment starts?

Correct. Trackside video sent in by a viewer the day after the crash showed multiple flashes before the breakers tripped as the catenary and towers came down.

Not sure how it hasn't been posted yet...the full docket is here: http://dms.ntsb.gov/pubdms/search/hitli ... 5047911EB4" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Thanks for the link. I've only had time to read the first interview.
Anyone know if they got the information off his previous runs over the same section , or do the event recorders only record one day or so ?

the event recorders record about a weeks worth sometimes even more, but engine is operated by different engineers all time.
NTSB probably did not download previous runs of Mr. Bosnian from other equipment, but you can be sure Road foreman of engines did, just to cover his end.

Here's another reason to avoid having accidents on your railroad - The entire NORAC Rule Book, NorthEast Corridor Employees' Timetable, and various Bulletin Orders were used by the National Transportation Safety Board as part of their evidence, and so are available on the Internet via the above link, without any National Security restrictions.

JimBoylan wrote:Here's another reason to avoid having accidents on your railroad - The entire NORAC Rule Book, NorthEast Corridor Employees' Timetable, and various Bulletin Orders were used by the National Transportation Safety Board as part of their evidence, and so are available on the Internet via the above link, without any National Security restrictions.

Some of that has been available with some searching ... but yes, all the "secrets" are out there.

JimBoylan wrote:Here's another reason to avoid having accidents on your railroad - The entire NORAC Rule Book, NorthEast Corridor Employees' Timetable, and various Bulletin Orders were used by the National Transportation Safety Board as part of their evidence, and so are available on the Internet via the above link, without any National Security restrictions.

Just go to any train show and you can pick up a copy of the NORAC rule book quite easily. No real safety concern as it's really just a packet of information pertaining to signaling, forms and the like required to keep trains moving safely and without incident.

JimBoylan wrote:Here's another reason to avoid having accidents on your railroad - The entire NORAC Rule Book, NorthEast Corridor Employees' Timetable, and various Bulletin Orders were used by the National Transportation Safety Board as part of their evidence, and so are available on the Internet via the above link, without any National Security restrictions.

Rule Books, Employee Timetables and Bulletin orders have all the security impact of the Drivers Manual that each state publishes for those applying for a Drivers License in each state.

But... but but... scawwy evildoors!!!!

Yeah, man! Protect 'Murica.