NTSB: Amtrak engineer applied the brakes

The train engineer involved in the Amtrak crash near Seattle remarked six seconds before the derailment that the train was going too fast and then appeared to apply brakes, federal investigators said Friday.

A video from Monday’s fatal accident showed the locomotive tilting and the crew bracing for impact as it headed at 80 mph into a 30- mph curve near DuPont, Wash., according to investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board ( NTSB).

But while the engineer appeared to apply brakes, he didn’t apply the emergency brakes, investigators said. The final recorded speedwas 78mph. The train’s speed and the posted speed limit are likely to be key points for federal accident investigators, who are trying to determine why the train— on its inaugural run— flewoff the track, sending several rail cars off a bridge overpass and onto a trafficclogged interstate at 7: 34 a. m. Monday.

NTSB based its latest findings on video recorded inside the locomotive’s cab and audio from a recorder facing away from crew members. The crewwas not observed using personal electronic devices at the time of the crash.

The other person inside the cab when the crash happened was an intraining conductor familiarizing himself with the route. Investigators have said they are looking intowhether the engineerwas distracted by the second person or by something else.

The new information is part of an ongoing investigation. The board has not concluded what caused the crash that killed three passengers, among the 85 passengers and crewmembers. The board said it will take a least a year to investigate, determine a cause and make recommendations to avoid another accident.