Queens Man ID'ed as Engineer of Derailed Amtrak Train

By JIM BOYLE, JUSTIN HEINZE and TOM DAVIS

A 32-year-old Queens man has been identified as the engineer of the Penn Station-bound Amtrak train that derailed in Pennsylvania Tuesday night, killing seven people on board.

ABC News identified the engineer as Brandon Bostian. His LinkedIn profile says Bostian has worked at Amtrak for almost nine years, and previously worked as a passenger conductor before he became a passenger engineer in December 2010.

Since the crash, Bostian has not spoken publicly but he did change his Facebook profile photo to a completely black picture.

The speed of the Amtrak train going into a curve may have been a factor that caused the derailment, officials said.

The train was traveling 106 mph going into a turn that has a 50 mph speed limit, the National Transportation Safety Board confirmed at a Wednesday afternoon press conference.

The engineer applied the brakes three seconds before the derailment, according to the NTSB.

“Further calibrations are being conducted.” according to the NTSB.

The Amtrak train traveling from Washington to New York crashed off its rails late Tuesday, killing seven and injuring 146 people in the Port Richmond section of Philadelphia, according to authorities.

There were approximately 238 passengers and 5 crew members on board, Amtrak said. The fatalities include 20-year-old Justin Zemser, of Rockaway Beach, Queens, who was a student at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis and Jim Gaines, 48, an employee of the Associated Press from New Jersey.

WUSA Channel 9 in Washington, D.C. also identified Abid Gilani, a senior vice president at Wells Fargo, as one of the deceased. The New York Times reported Wednesday afternoon that Rachel Jacobs, CEO of a Philadelphia tech firm who lived in Manhattan, was among the dead.

Max Helfman, 19, of New Jersey, told NBC News he was on the last car of the Amtrak train and made it out with a few scratches, but his mother may have broken some of her ribs.

“My mother flew and I literally had to catch her,” Helfman told the network. Authorities said Wednesday they have recovered the “black box” recorders that could give insight into how the Amtrak train derailed.

Speaking during a Wednesday press conference, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter confirmed the ”black box,” or voice and data recorders, that could reveal what happened just prior to the crash were recovered.

Nutter, who confirmed early Wednesday that five died at the scene, said he’s “never seen” destruction like this. He said the train conductor was hospitalized but was recovering.

Medical personnel confirmed that a sixth person died at Temple University Hospital early Wednesday and eight people were listed in critical condition. Authorities expanded the death toll later in the day.

Amtrak released a statement early Wednesday, saying:

“We are deeply saddened by the loss of life from Amtrak Northeast Regional Train 188 that derailed [in] Philadelphia Tuesday evening. We ask the news media to be respectful of our customers, our employees, and their families.”

Philadelphia Fire Commissioner Derrick Sawyer called the accident a “mass casualty” incident. SEPTA shut down service on the Chestnut Hill West and Trenton Regional Rail lines until further notice.

Individuals with questions about their friends and family should call the Amtrak Incident Hotline at 800-523-9101. Amtrak has also established a Family Assistance Center to work closely with family and friends of passengers on the train.

Photos: LinkedIn photo of Brandon Bostian, YouTube