Amtrak engineer Brandon Bostian found not guilty in 2015 deadly train derailm

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: WHYY (PBS Philadelphia)


File photo: Brandon Bostian, the former Amtrak engineer involved in a 2015 derailment in Philadelphia that killed eight people and injured more than 200. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)


The jury has found former Amtrak engineer Brandon Bostian not guilty on all charges resulting from his role in a deadly 2015 train derailment. The eight women and four men deliberated for less than 90 minutes before coming to their verdict Friday afternoon. Earlier in the day, the jury panel had to start deliberations over after one juror dropped out due to a death in the family.

It is the latest chapter in a long saga to assign blame for what happened when Amtrak 188 jumped the rails near Frankford Junction, just after 9:20 p.m. on May 12. Eight people died, and 185 were rushed to the hospital. Bostian, the sole engineer onboard, had accelerated his train to 106 mph just before entering the curve and braking, when the speed limit for that stretch of track was 50 mph.

The National Transportation Safety Board investigated the accident, and determined in a 2016 report that “the most likely reason” Bostian failed to slow down is that he thought he was just beyond the curve, where the speed limit increases to 110 mph. He lost his “situational awareness” because he was distracted by radio reports of rocks or bullets hitting nearby trains, the report continued.

The NTSB also found physical changes such as an automatic braking system called positive train control, and stronger windows on passenger cars, could have saved lives or averted the disaster completely. Amtrak admitted fault, and paid out $265 million to victims and their families.

Read more: https://whyy.org/articles/brandon-bostian-amtrak-trial-not-guilty-train-derailment/

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This was breaking here in Philly.

[Effete Snob]

1. Good

This prosecution was a witch hunt.

[LisaM]

2. All I needed.to read was "sole engineer on board".

That's unacceptable, with hundreds of passengers.

[BumRushDaShow]

3. This incident highlighted the need for a PTC (Positive Train Control) system across Amtrak's system

As of August 2020, 5 years after this incident, Amtrak finally completed doing this -

August 13, 2020 Amtrak Announces Positive Train Control Completion

All Amtrak-owned tracks have now implemented PTC

WASHINGTON – Amtrak has reached a major milestone in Positive Train Control (PTC) implementation on all Amtrak-owned or controlled tracks. The final piece of the project recently concluded with installation on approximately one mile of slow-speed track in the complex Chicago terminal.

“Completing PTC installation and implementation is a key component of Amtrak’s overarching commitment to the safety performance of intercity passenger rail for our customers, employees and the communities we serve,” said Amtrak Executive Vice President Chief Safety Officer Steve Predmore. “As leaders in PTC installation, Amtrak is pleased to achieve this milestone, and we will continue to work together with all of our partners to improve safety across the rail network.”

Amtrak continues to work with partners throughout the industry to advance this system on host infrastructure. Amtrak is also working with tenant railroads that operate over Amtrak’s infrastructure to complete interoperability testing and is on target for all tenant trains to be operating with PTC before the federal mandate.

Amtrak PTC Implementation by the numbers

To date, Amtrak has made progress implementing PTC across the routes and equipment we control for the following:

All (550) Amtrak owned locomotives are fully equipped and PTC operable

All (11) installation/track segments completed

All (160) radio towers fully installed and equipped

All employees who require training to support PTC operations have completed training

898 of 898 route miles are in PTC operation

https://media.amtrak.com/2020/08/amtrak-announces-positive-train-control-completion/

[Cozmo]

4. As if this engineer didn't feel bad enough. This is all on AMTRAK