FBI Examine Train’s Windshield: Is A Projectile To Blame, Or Did Someone Hit The Throttle?

There is a bit of mystery surrounding last week’s Amtrak train derailment, which killed eight and injured more than 200 people: The FBI has been brought in to examine the windshield, which was struck by an unknown object.

National Traffic Safety Board investigators have some healthy skepticism for claims suggesting something hit the windshield before the accident, and have stopped short of saying a gunshot is responsible, Reuters reported.

However, as they examine the details of the crash, the NTSB still has a grapefruit-sized “circular pattern of damage” on the windshield to contend with, and that’s why they’ve brought in the FBI.

But no one uttered a word about it at the time, said board member Robert Sumwalt.

“We listened to the dispatch tape, and we heard no communications at all from the Amtrak engineer to the dispatch center to say that something had struck his train. (But) this idea … that’s one of the many things we are looking at right now.”

Brandon Bostian, 32, may have mentioned a projectile, an assistant conductor admits, but he suffered a concussion and can’t remember. Brandon’s absence from the recordings cast a bit of doubt on the claim, the Wall Street Journal noted.

But a passenger corroborates the conductor’s uncertain account.

Alfred Price told CNN he recalled hearing a boom, and Bostian confirmed a collision with an unknown object. Kam Desai, who was on the Acela line 20 minutes ahead, had a similar story.

“We heard a very large, really loud slamming or banging sound. It was very alarming to all the passengers, myself included, and my co-worker that was with me.”

Her report is unconfirmed, but then there’s the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority train, which reported that projectile hit it 20 to 30 minutes prior to the crash.

The FBI is considering this account as it tries to examine the strange fracture and other details emerging from the NTSB probe. A second possibility, Sumwalt suggested, is intentional acceleration, since, if operational, it shouldn’t have shot up from 70 mph to 106 mph the minute leading up to the incident.

“The only way … would be if the engineer pushed the throttle forward.”

A deliberate act, mechanical issues, and human error are all still being considered as both agencies further scrutinize the derailment.

[Photo Courtesy Win McNamee / Getty Images]