Page 16 - The Engineer News Today

At a greater rate of speed in that section of the track. it is a big controversy that the system is not in place in the northbound section. ntsb officials say if it had been this accident would not have occurred. christine. >> brian todd for us. thank you. friends and former colleagues of the engineer brandon bostian are speaking out in his defense. xavier bishop worked as his flagman until bishop was fired for attendance issues. he says he has never seen bostian take a drink or drive a train we...

Back. and he says this engineer always checked out fine. there was nothing that would alarm him about anything when the engineer was behind the train. >> let me ask you some tough questions. ever see him drinking? >> never. >> ever see him too sleepy? >> never. >> texting? >> no. >> phone calls? >> never had his phone out. it didnt matter what the situation was. never had his phone out. >> let me ask you, what do you think happened? >> i -- i honestly dont know. i really believe something happen...

>> announcer: from abc news, this is "world news now." >> good morning to you all on this friday. im t.j. holmes. >> im marci gonzalez. reena ninan is on assignment. we begin with the search for answers in that deadly amtrak crash. the engineer expected to speak with investigators any day now. >> but we now know the train accelerated. it was speeding up for a full minute before it derailed. the ntsb says its unclear though whether the speed was increased manually by the engineer. >> the eight pe...

Throttle by actually physically opening it through some motion you could speed up the train. it would take some type of probably conscious movement to do so. especially with this type of throttle. but in general, im not familiar with the type of throttle on that particular locomotive how easy it is to move. but in general, it would not be easy. >> theres also been talk of like a dead man switch. can you explain that to me? >> maam? hello? >> barrett, its brooke. youre on tv. do you hear me? can ...

Person that can control the speed of the train. >> reporter: the engineer that night was 32-year-old brandon bostian. the ntsb says now as he approached one of the most dangerous curves in the corridor, he wasnt slowing down. he was speeding up. 70 miles per hour a minute before impact then 80, and 90. 16 seconds before the curve, the train is going exactly twice the speed limit 100 miles an hour and there was no way a train could make that curve at that speed. >> this is a relatively new train....

>> you think he may have nodded off -- >> sorry? >> you think he may have nodded off? >> it would not surprise me. the accident happened about 10:20 at night. but thats why -- i give you my hunch. i dont have any information but weve seen this kind of thing before. we need to know when did he start to work? how familiar was he with the route? whats his normal routine. >> stephanie, i know youve been looking at the engineers past. what do we know about brandon bostian? >> well were learning thing...

>> from each crash. when you consider how many injuries here its not that much money. so the situation now is theres going to be this pot of money, presumably, all of it and the people who died the people who are injured, the courts are going to have to figure out how to divide it up. >> and ill speak with an ntsb board member whos been on the scene and well tell you what he makes of a message board post allegedly made by the engineer. and a look that safety system that may have prevented this t...

Different depending on whether youre a trucker or bus driver or airline pilot or a train operator. they are complex and to explain it i would have to spend a lot of time looking through the regulations. but they are different according to each mode of transportation. >> the engineers injuries does anything indicate [ inaudible ]? >> does the engineer indicate from his injuries that me may have been struck by something entering the cab and he did not report anything to that effect when we intervi...

Problems with the intelligence. but what i think he got wrapped around the axle on is this time machine question that you were joking about at the beginning of the segment. but to go back in time -- >> but it was cleared up for him the next day. he screwed it up for the last two days. this is not hard. >> well, this is -- >> you have nothing to say. you were sweet yesterday, so well let you go. >> lets read gail collins piece subtly titled wow jeb bush is awful. it reads in part, the bottom line...

Lets get back to the coverage of the amtrak train derailment in philadelphia. investigators are focussing right now on the trains speed. 106 miles an hour around a 50 mile per hour curve at the time of the crash. according to the engineers attorney spoke to abc earlier today, the engineer doesnt remember everything about the crash. >> we know the fact that the train was going at an excessive speed, but the reasons why are still to be determined. >> we know the emergency brake was hit, but has yo...