Brandon Bostian: ‘No Recollection’ Of Causing The Amtrak Train Crash

Amtrak engineer Brandon Bostian claims he has “no recollection” of the events that led up to the Amtrak train crash. When police attempted to interview him, he refused to speak, and now his lawyer claims he does not recall why Bostian let the speeding train take a turn at 106 mph when the maximum speed rating was 50 mph.

In a related report by the Inquisitr, Philadelphia mayor Michael Nutter chewed out the Amtrak engineer for allowing the Amtrak crash to occur.

“Clearly it was reckless in terms of the driving by the engineer,” Nutter told CNN. “I don’t know what was going on with him. I don’t know what was going on in the cab, but there’s really no excuse that can be offered, literally, unless he had a heart attack. There’s no way in the world he should have been going that fast into the curve.”

Although the National Safety Transportation Board (NTSB) notes that the Amtrak engineer threw the emergency brakes just prior to the Amtrak crash, the speed limit before the curve was also 70 mph. According to Robert Goggin, the engineer’s lawyer, claims Brandon Bostian has “no recollection” of doing that, either.

“He remembers coming into the curve (and) attempting to reduce speed,” the attorney said. “The last thing he recalls is coming to, looking for his bag, getting his cell phone, turning it on and calling 911 … I can tell you that he was distraught when he learned of the devastation. He was distraught.”

The attorney also told ABC that his client is cooperating with investigators despite having “no recollection” of what happened.

“He was at the disposal of the police for six hours before I — or five hours — before I got on scene. Among other things, they indicated that they wanted to get a search warrant for his blood, which we consented to. He said, ‘You don’t need a search warrant, happy to give it to you.’ It had already been drawn at Einstein Hospital. They asked for his cell phone, which they had. [We] said, ‘Have it. Take all the information you want. You don’t need a search warrant for that either. We’ll give it to you.’ I’m assuming [authorities asked for the phone] because they want to see whether he was on the telephone at the time of the accident. So he’s cooperated, and not only that, he’s indicated that he would make himself available to the police if they need any more information.”

The results of the blood test were apparently, with the lawyer admitting to “no drinking, no drugs, no medical conditions. Nothing.”

“I asked him if he had any medical issues,” Goggin said. “He said he had none. He’s on no medications… He has no health issues to speak of and just has no explanation.”

But could authorities have Brandon Bostian arrested for his involvement? Back in 2013, another engineer named William Rockefeller had an undiagnosed sleep condition. Back then, legal experts told DNAInfo that falling asleep while driving a train is not illegal.

“Falling asleep, by itself, is fundamentally not a crime, not even for a motorman driving a train,” a law enforcement source claimed. “There was nothing mitigating here. He was not drunk, on the phone, or out partying the night before, and he went to sleep at a reasonable hour.”

According to his LinkedIn profile, Brandon Bostian has worked at Amtrak for nearly nine years, but he has only worked as a passenger engineer since December of 2010. A friend named Stefanie Mcgee said Bostian’s “number one goal in life” was work for a train company like Amtrak, and she could never imagine him doing anything to put that at risk.

“He loved trains, he’s always loved trains. That was his thing,” McGee said, according to the Daily Mail. “He loved riding on trains, he would tell us about them. There was a major train line through the town and he knew all about it. He knew about train timetables, the trains, everything. Driving a train was his dream. When he got to drive a train he was living his dream, it was his dream come true.”

[Image via the Gateway Pundit]