FBI looking into fractured Amtrak train window An assistant conductor told investigators she had overheard the engineer talking about something striking the train, the NTSB says.

The FBI will examine the windshield of the locomotive that derailed in Philadelphia, trying to determine if it was damaged by a projectile or a bullet before this week’s fatal crash, National Transportation Safety Board member Robert Sumwalt told reporters Friday night.

This latest twist comes after an assistant conductor told investigators she believed she had overheard the train’s engineer talking about something striking the train, Sumwalt said.


“Our investigation has not independently confirmed this information, but we have seen damage to the left-hand lower portion of the Amtrak windshield that we have asked the FBI to come in and look at for us,” he said.

The assistant conductor told the NTSB that three to four minutes after the Amtrak train left North Philadelphia Station, she heard the engineer talking on the radio to an engineer for the local transit agency SEPTA. The SEPTA engineer relayed that he’d had to apply the emergency brakes after his windshield was broken by a projectile or possibly a bullet.

“She also believed that she heard [the Amtrak] engineer say something about his train being struck by something,” Sumwalt said. “This is her recollection, and certainly, we are going to be conducting further investigation of this comment.”

The Philadelphia Inquirer had previously reported that a different Amtrak train and a SEPTA commuter train had both been hit by unknown projectiles shortly before the derailment. It wasn’t immediately apparent how that would explain the crash, which the NTSB has previously said occurred after the crashed train sped through a curve at more twice the recommended speed.

Eight people died in the crash, and more than 200 were injured.

Sumwalt said Friday that the NTSB had interviewed the engineer, whom other media outlets have identified as Brandon Bostian. Sumwalt said he had no recollection of operating the train past the North Philadelphia Station. He said the engineer did not report any fatigue, was “extremely cooperative” and had a good working knowledge of the territory.

Sumwalt said the NTSB has since 2010 recommended that passenger trains be equipped with inward-facing cameras to record engineers and gather more data about how a train was being operated in the case of an accident. Sumwalt said the Federal Railroad Administration has “replied that they do intend to act upon that recommendation,” though he gave no further details.

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