LDN: Congressman Ryan Costello takes part in Amtrak crash hearing
June 2, 2015
In The News
As published in the Lebanon Daily News
John Latimer
Lebanon County Congressman Ryan Costello was one of several lawmakers who took part in Tuesday's questioning of government officials investigating last month's derailment of a passenger train in Philadelphia.
The Chester County Republican is a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee which held a three hour hearing on the investigation into the cause of the May 12 crash of Amtrak 188 that killed eight and injured approximately 200 more.
The hearing, which coincided with the release of the National Transportation Safety Board's preliminary report on the crash, included questioning of representatives of the NTSB, Amtrak, the Federal Railroad Administration, and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen.
While the NTSB report made no definitive determination, human error and not a train malfunction appears to be the likely cause of the disaster. The train was traveling 110 miles per hour on a rail with an 80 mph speed limit that slows to 50 mph at the curve where it derailed.
The train's engineer, 32-year-old Brandon Bostian, has cooperated with the investigation by turning over his cellphone but does not have any recollection of the crash or the moments before occurred, according to the NTSB.
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