Federal safety investigators said Wednesday the engineer of the
Amtrak train involved in a fatal derailment in Philadelphia used
his cell phone on the day of the crash, but it wasn't yet clear if
he used it while operating the train.
The National Transportation Safety Board said investigators are
"correlating time stamps" in the engineer's phone with "multiple
data sources," including the locomotive event recorder and
surveillance video.
The agency said the process is detailed and lengthy and didn't
offer a timeline for announcing further results of its inquiry.
Amtrak Northeast Regional Train 188 derailed May 12 shortly as
it entered a sharp curve while traveling at twice the posted speed
limit. Eight people were killed, and more than 200 were injured.
The train was heading north to New York from Washington.
The NTSB also said Wednesday that its examination of signal
systems found no malfunctions or anomalies.
The agency said the engineer, Brandon Bostian, had been assigned
to the Washington to New York route for several weeks prior to the
accident. Mr. Bostian's attorney didn't immediately respond to a
request for comment.
Mr. Bostian has told investigators he doesn't remember the
events immediately prior to the derailment or the accident itself.
He suffered head injuries in the wreck, his lawyer has said.
Write to Kris Maher at kris.maher@wsj.com
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