The National Transportation Safety Board has determined that last May's Amtrak crash in Philadelphia probably stemmed from the engineer's being distracted, leading him to lose track of where he was and speed up into a curve at more than double the 50 mile per hour limit, causing a derailment that killed eight passengers and sent more than 180 others to area hospitals.
After a yearlong investigation, the board on May 19 cited engineer Brandon Bostian’s “loss of situational awareness” and resulting excessive speed, as the probable cause of the May 12, 2015, nighttime derailment.