NTSB: MU graduate in control of train before deadly derailment was distracted
UPDATE: Officials with the National Transportation Safety Board say the engineer and MU graduate who was in control of an Amtrack passenger train when it derailed was distracted.
NTSB officials sayBrandon Bostian had lost situational awareness prior to the deadly derailment because he was listening to radio transmission about another train that had been hit by rocks.
The NTSB said Bostian failed to slow the train properly going into a turn because of he was distracted.
The NTSB is now recommending greater education, technology and simulator training to prevent such incidents from happening again.
Its unclear if Bostian will face any sort of charges in the incident.
ORIGINAL STORY: A University of Missouri graduate could learn Tuesday if he is to blame for a deadly Amtrak passenger train derailment.
Federal safety regulators plan to meet Tuesday to detail the probable cause of last May’s Amtrak derailment in Philadelphia.
You’ recall the crash in May of 2015 killed eight people.
A U.S. official briefed by investigators says engineer Brandon Bostian was distracted by radio transmissions before the crash.
Bostian was one of five Amtrak engineers on board the NYC-bound train when it derailed.
Bostian graduated from MU in 2006 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration.
ABC News reports Bostian told investigators after the derailment that he remembered radio traffic that night from a commuter train operator who said a rock had shattered his windshield.
According to ABC News, the official did not say whether those were the transmissions that distracted Bostian, but the engineer apparently did not speak about any other radio chatter when he was interviewed by federal investigators.
The National Transportation Safety Board won’t officially determine a cause until board members vote after its meeting.
ABC News reports that the NTSB is expected to recommend that engineers be retrained about distractions and also recommend that the city wait for ambulances to take injured people to the hospital at mass-casualty incidents.
