NTSB: Amtrak train accelerated from 70 mph to 100 mph just seconds before the crash

Robert Sumwalt.
(Image credit: Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

Investigators say the Amtrak train that derailed in Philadelphia on Tuesday accelerated just seconds before the crash.

The NTSB's Robert Sumwalt said that video from inside the cabin shows that 65 seconds before the derailment, the train's speed rose above 70 mph, and 16 seconds before the end of the recording, the speed was above 100 mph, twice the speed limit for that section of the tracks. "Seconds into the turn, we could see the train tilting 10 degrees to the right," Sumwalt said. When the train crashed, the recording stopped, and investigators are not sure if the train's speed was increased manually.

Sumwalt also said that engineer Brandon Bostian agreed to speak with investigators, and they will meet "in the next few days." Bostian's attorney, Robert Goggin, told ABC News his client is "very distraught" over the fact that people were killed in the crash, and he has voluntarily submitted a blood sample and gave investigators his cellphone.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Continue reading for free

We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.

Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.

Catherine Garcia

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.