(CN) – Preliminary details released Friday by the National Transportation Safety Board on its investigation into the deadly derailment of an Amtrak train in Washington state seem to point away from fault on the part of the crew.
Video from inside the lead locomotive showed the crew was not using cellphones or other electronic devices immediately prior to the derailment. Six seconds before the crash, the engineer remarked that the train was speeding and his actions “were consistent with the application of the locomotive’s brakes,” according to audio and video recordings reviewed by the NTSB. It did not appear that the engineer engaged the train’s emergency brake.
The final shot of video from inside the train showed the train car tilting and the crew bracing for impact, as the train careened off the track and onto busy Interstate 5 at 78 miles per hour, the board said.
The derailment occurred during the inaugural run along a fast new bypass route. The 15-mile, $180.7 million project bypasses curves and freight traffic.
Of the crew and 85 passengers, three people died and more than 70 were injured.
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