Amtrak Engineer Distracted by Radio Chatter Prior to Crash
- NTSB concludes Tuesday that crash caused by distraction, speed
- Eight died and 200 hurt in 2015 derailment in Philadelphia
Investigators and first responders work near the wreckage of the crash on May 13, 2015 in north Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Photographer: Win McNamee/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
The Amtrak engineer at the controls of a speeding train that derailed in Philadelphia last year, killing eight people, was distracted by radio communications in the moments before the accident and may have lost track of where he was, investigators concluded Tuesday.
In the minutes before the crash, the engineer was listening to emergency radio transmissions between a dispatcher and the operator of a commuter train that was struck by a rock, National Transportation Safety Board investigator Steve Jenner said at a hearing in Washington.