The Amtrak investigation of last May's crash in Philadelphia may provide more answers about the accident that killed eight and injured more than 200 when the National Transportation Safety Board releases 2,000 pages of documents connected with the probe.
The report may contain details about the involvement of the train's engineer, who has mostly remained silent.
The NTSB's release of the documents is expected to include black box data from the train, interviews from crew members and first responders on the scene and pictures of the crash site, reported the
Philadelphia Inquirer.
On May 12, Amtrak Train 188 derailed when it entered a 50 mile-per-hour curve at Frankford Junction at 106 mph, reported
USA Today.
Since the accident, the train's engineer Brandon Bostian, 32, has not agreed to a formal interview with police but did talk to the NTSB.
Bostian had told NTSB officials shortly after the crash that he did not remember anything after ringing the train's bell as the train passed the North Philadelphia station roughly three miles from the curve, said USA Today.
Bostian's attorney, Robert Goggin, said his client was not on drugs or drinking at the time of the accident. The NTSB has said it didn't appear that Bostian was using his cellphone at the time, but it was still analyzing the engineer's phone information.
The Inquirer said the documents could reveal more information on why the train appeared to speed up instead of decelerate when it approached the Frankford Junction curve. There had been no conclusion up to this point.
The
Washington Post said the documents were expected to saythe accident could have been avoided if technology known as positive train control had been in place on the route.
Positive train control, an automatic braking system that would have slowed down the train if it entered the curve at more than twice the authorized speed, was activated from Washington to New York after the accident.
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