US federal investigators said today they have so far found no evidence the driver of a passenger train that derailed in Philadelphia in May, killing eight people, was using his cell phone at the time of the crash.
The National Transportation Safety Board reached that conclusion after analyzing Brandon Bostian's mobile phone and records of cell phone towers for calls, texts or data traffic.
"Analysis of the phone records does not indicate that any calls, texts, or data usage occurred during the time the engineer was operating the train," the agency said in a statement.
"Amtrak's records confirm that the engineer did not access the train's Wi-Fi system while he was operating the locomotive," it added.
Investigators continue to examine 400,000 files of metadata in the cell phone's operating system, the NTSB said. Bostian gave them the passcode to his phone, it said.
NTSB Vice Chairwoman T Bella Dinh-Zarr told a congressional hearing that "things like use of an app or other use of the phone has not been determined," given the extent of the metadata to be analyzed.
The Amtrak passenger train was carrying 243 people from Washington to New York on May 12 when it hurtled off the track in Philadelphia, killing eight people and injuring more than 200.
The NTSB has said the train was traveling at 170 kilometers an hour, twice the speed limit, as it entered a curve.
But investigators have yet to determine why it was traveling at such a high rate of speed.
The train engineer, or driver, suffered a blow to the head in the crash, which has affected his memory of the event, his lawyer said.
No anomalies have been found so far in the signalling system.
