After the horrific May 12 Amtrak train derailment in Philadelphia that claimed at least eight lives and critically injured dozens more, The National ENQUIRER has learned the accident could have been prevented by an existing safety technology!
“Our railways are not as safe as they should be,” Congressman Eliot Engel told The ENQUIRER.
“The necessary resources must be provided to improve rail safety.”
In the Philadelphia crash, The National Transportation Safety Board [NTSB] determined the train was traveling at 106 mph when it derailed on a turn – a place where the train was required to slow to 50 mph.
The accident could have been prevented if Positive Train Control [PTC] had been in place on the track.
Amtrak has failed to install the PTC system, even though the federal government mandated in 2008 that PTC mechanisms be installed by the end of 2015.
Implementation of the life-saving technology has been put off until 2020.
“Without it, everybody on a train is one human error away from an accident,” the NTSB has declared.
As part of the investigation, the train’s engineer has come under scrutiny.
Brandon Bostian joined Amtrak as a conductor in 2006 and became an engineer in 2010.
Following the crash, it was revealed he had been ranting online about safety issues and fatigued train operators.
“It shouldn’t take an act of Congress to get the industry to adopt common sense safety systems on their own,” he wrote.
Brandon told the NTSB he felt comfortable with the train and was not fatigued.
While Brandon’s lawyer said he was not using drugs or alcohol, investigators are conducting their own drug tests.
An NTSB official said the agency is investigating whether the train was hit by a rock or another projectile before the tragedy.
Additionally, the FBI was summoned to assist the NTSB in the investigation.
