3 New Yorkers Among 8 Now Confirmed Dead in Amtrak Derailment, Engineer Says He Doesn't Remember Crash

By James Boyle

The engineer of the Amtrak train that crashed in the Port Richmond section of Philadelphia Tuesday night, killing 8 people, including three from New York, does not remember the details of the accident, his attorney told ABC News Wednesday night.

Brandon Bostian, 32, of Queens, only remembers operating the train in the general area of the crash and being thrown about the car in the immediate aftermath - but not the moment of the actual accident, according to the report.

Investigators say they’re looking into the actions of the engineer involved in the Amtrak Train 188 crash that also injured more than 200 passengers.

The Penn Station-bound train was traveling 106 mph going into the 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, bringing the speed down to 102 mph, according to the NTSB. “Further calibrations are being conducted.” the NTSB said on Twitter.

Bostian’s attorney also says the engineer has voluntarily provided a blood sample and his cell phone to investigators, according to the report.

Mayor Michael Nutter spoke strongly about Bostian’s possible involvement with the derailment, telling CNN Wednesday night: “Clearly it was reckless in terms of the driving by the engineer. There’s no way in the world he should have been going that fast into the curve.”

The devastating crash claimed the lives of eight people, five of whom have been identified by family members.

They include Justin Zemser, 20-year-old midshipman at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis who lived in Rockaway Beach, Queens; Derrick Griffith, 42, dean of student affairs and enrollment management at Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn, Jim Gaines, 48, an employee of the Associated Press who lived in Plainsboro, N.J.; Abid Gilani, a senior vice president atWells Fargo, and Rachel Jacobs, the CEO of a Philadelphia tech firm who lived in Manhattan.

Bostian’s LinkedIn profile says he has worked at Amtrak for almost nine years, and previously worked as a passenger conductor before he became a passenger engineer.

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

Bostian, originally from Memphis, graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 2006 and worked as a cashier at Target while in college, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Photos: NTSB, LinkedIn profile photo of Brandon Bostian

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