Amtrak engineer was not on cell - NTSB

Emergency personnel walk near the scene of a deadly train wreck in Philadelphia. AP Photo/Mel Evans

Emergency personnel walk near the scene of a deadly train wreck in Philadelphia. AP Photo/Mel Evans

Published Jun 10, 2015

Share

Washington - Amtrak engineer Brandon Bostian does not appear to have been using his cellphone on May 12 when his passenger train derailed in Philadelphia, killing eight people and injuring more than 200 others, federal investigators said on Wednesday.

“Analysis of the phone records does not indicate that any calls, texts, or data usage occurred during the time the engineer was operating the train,” the National Transportation Safety Board said in an investigation update.

“Amtrak's records confirm that the engineer did not access the train's Wi-Fi system while he was operating the locomotive.”

But the investigation continues. NTSB said investigators are still trying to determine whether the phone was in “airplane mode” or was powered off. They have been examining the phone's operating system, which contains more than 400 000 files of “meta-data.”

“Investigators are obtaining a phone identical to the engineer's phone as an exemplar model and will be running tests to validate the data,” the NTSB said.

Reuters

Related Topics: