WASHINGTON 鈥� Don’t expect any quick answers about what caused the derailment of an Amtrak Northeast Regional train in Philadelphia Tuesday night, killing five people and injuring dozens.
That鈥檚 the word from NBC4 transportation reporter Adam Tuss, who spoke with WTOP at about 5:10 a.m. Wednesday.
Tuss, from what he called 鈥渁 disastrous scene鈥� in Philadelphia, said that he hasn鈥檛 yet seen National Transportation Safety Board investigators, but that he knows they were 鈥渓aunched鈥� from Washington on Tuesday. Once they get there, he said 鈥渋t very quickly becomes their scene.鈥�
They鈥檒l pick through the evidence and data thoroughly but slowly, Tuss said. As with the deadly smoke incident on Metro in January, people want fast answers, 鈥渂ut the NTSB doesn鈥檛 operate that way. 鈥� I don鈥檛 think anyone should be expecting a full report today.鈥�
He does say that the information on the train equivalent of an airliner鈥檚 black boxes, known as the event recorder, can be downloaded remotely 鈥� investigators don鈥檛 have to find it.
CBS 太子探花 transportation consultant Mark Rosenker, a former head of the NTSB, says that that ability will help the investigation, but won’t necessarily speed it up — it generally takes a year before the final report is filed.
Tuss adds that it鈥檚 clear the train 鈥渨as going at a very high rate of speed,鈥� but that speed limits are different on different sections of track. He says that it was found far from the tracks, near a turn, indicating a high rate of speed.
He said that he鈥檇 heard first-person accounts of the train slowing down and shaking before derailing, but also that one woman said 鈥渟he was sitting in her seat, and all of a sudden could taste dirt. It literally happened that fast.鈥�
