Official: Radio transmissions distracted Amtrak engineer

An Amtrak engineer whose speeding train jumped the tracks along a curve in Philadelphia last year, killing eight people, was distracted by radio transmissions, a US official briefed on the investigation has said.
Engineer Brandon Bostian told investigators three days after the May 12, 2015, crash that he recalled radio traffic that night from a commuter train operator who said a rock had shattered his windshield. The official was unable to say whether those were the transmissions that distracted Bostian, but the engineer spoke about no other radio chatter when interviewed by federal investigators, according to material released previously by the National Transportation Safety Board.

The official was not authorised to comment publicly because the probe is still underway and spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.
The revelation came a day before the NTSB is scheduled to meet to detail the probable cause of last year's fatal derailment. The cause won't be determined officially until the board's vote at the conclusion of that meeting.
NTSB spokesman Peter Knudsen said the agency would not comment ahead of today's hearing.
Bostian's attorney didn't immediately return an email sent after business hours yesterday. An Amtrak spokesman said the agency will have a comment after today's hearing.

The official briefed on the report's findings yesterday said that investigators also believe there were some issues with the train's emergency windows and several people were killed because they were ejected through those windows.

The investigation also found police transported many of the injured people to the hospital instead of waiting for ambulances, the official said. The NTSB is expected to recommend that engineers be retrained about distractions and recommend the city wait for ambulances to take injured people to the hospital at mass-casualty incidents.
The city's emergency management office is finalising a revised mass-casualty plan that will continue to allow police to transport victims but will aim for better coordination with the fire department, spokeswoman Noelle Foizen said.

Investigators are looking into why the train from Washington, DC, to New York was going double the 50 mph limit around a sharp curve about 10 minutes after leaving Philadelphia's 30th Street Station.