The FBI is investigating whether an object struck the Amtrak train windshield shortly before it derailed near Philadelphia, killing eight and injuring 200.
Questions about whether Brandon Bostian, the train engineer, was panicked or wounded were raised at the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) meeting last night after it was revealed that there were concentric circles on the lower left corner of the train’s glass windshield.
An assistant conductor said she heard a regional train driver telling the Amtrak engineer that his train had been hit by an object and that Bostian, the Amtrak engineer, replied his train had also been struck.
The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) regional train, was struck by an “unknown projectile” Tuesday, breaking the engineer’s window, spokeswoman Jerri Williams told the Philadelphia Inquirer. The SEPTA train was hit at around 9:10 p.m. and the Amtrak train derailed about 9:30 p.m. three miles away.
The NTSB revealed that there was yet another Amtrak train, headed south, that had its window shattered in the same area around the same time.
Bostian, the 32-year-old Amtrak engineer, was interviewed yesterday for the first time after the concussion he suffered in the accident.
The train was speeding at over 100 miles an hour and twice the speed limit as it entered a sharp curve, just before derailing.
