Amtrak Engineer Recalls Opening Throttle Before Fatal Crash

WASHINGTON— The last thing Amtrak engineer Brian Bostian remembers before last May’s fatal crash in Philadelphia is pushing the throttle forward to pick up speed and then braking when he felt the train going too fast into a sharp curve, according to ...
Amtrak Engineer Recalls Opening Throttle Before Fatal Crash
Emergency personnel look for passengers on the Amtrack train wreck in Philadelphia on May 12. AP Photo/ Joseph Kaczmarek
|Updated:

WASHINGTON— The last thing Amtrak engineer Brian Bostian remembers before last May’s fatal crash in Philadelphia is pushing the throttle forward to pick up speed and then braking when he felt the train going too fast into a sharp curve, according to a transcript of his interview with federal accident investigators.

When he realized the train was about to derail, Bostian recalled holding tightly to the controls and thinking, “Well, this is it, I’m going over.”

The transcript was among more than 160 documents released Monday by the National Transportation Safety Board. The documents don’t come to any conclusions on the cause of the crash but offer a glimpse into what investigators have learned thus far.

Among the most illuminating are two transcripts of interviews Bostian had with investigators, one immediately after the May 12 crash that killed eight people and injured nearly 200 others, and the second in November.

In this May 13, 2015 file photo, emergency personnel work at the scene of a derailment in Philadelphia of an Amtrak train headed to New York. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)
In this May 13, 2015 file photo, emergency personnel work at the scene of a derailment in Philadelphia of an Amtrak train headed to New York. AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File