Amtrak Train Sped Up Before Frankford Curve

In the seconds before Amtrak train No. 188 derailed at Frankford Junction, the train’s speed surged from 70 m.p.h. to 102 m.p.h. – more than twice the speed limit on the dangerous curve, the National Transportation Safety Board announced Thursday.

Just before the crash, with the train traveling at 106 m.p.h., the train’s engineer, Brandon Bostian, hit his emergency brakes, NTSB officials said. But it was too late.

Two days after the deadliest train crash on the Northeast Corridor in three decades, the revelations on the train’s acceleration – while providing the most detailed account yet of the moments before the derailment – raised new questions about the 32-year-old engineer’s actions.

Officials involved in the investigation told The Inquirer that Philadelphia police earlier Thursday had obtained a search warrant for Bostian’s cellphone records. Those records would help investigators determine whether he could have been distracted – whether the phone had registered any activity in the moments before the crash.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20150515_Sources__Investigators_get_warrant_for_Amtrak_engineer_s_cellphone_records.html#yp1F7IXGDQrK35MJ.99

SEPTA, Amtrak Trains Hit By Projectiles Minutes Before Fatal Crash

Just before Tuesday’s deadly Amtrak derailment, both a SEPTA commuter train and another Amtrak train in the same corridor were hit by projectiles, one which crashed through the engineer’s window.

An Amtrak spokesman could not be reached regarding Amtrak Acela Train 2173, which passengers said was struck at about 9:05 p.m. A SEPTA train was struck by a projectile at about 9:10 p.m., according to a SEPTA spokeswoman, who said there is no indication the incident is connected to the derailment, which happened at about 9:30 p.m.

Mayor Nutter, at a news conference Wednesday afternoon, reiterated that the incident with the SEPTA train had “nothing to do” with the derailment.

Amtrak’s Acela 2173 was traveling southbound when it was hit on the left side between 9:05 and 9:10 p.m., about five minutes before it entered 30th Street Station, according to 29-year-old passenger Madison Calvert.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20150514_SEPTA_train_hit_by_projectile_before_Amtrak_crash.html#kXmYL8tAOGVUFPJS.99

Amtrak Derailment Death Toll Rises In Phildelphia

The death toll in the derailment of an Amtrak train in Port Richmond rose to seven Wednesday and could go higher as a team of federal rail experts begins an investigation to determine what caused the engine and all seven passenger cars to jump the tracks at a curve.

People close to the investigation in the meantime tell the Inquirer the train apparently was traveling well above the speed limit when it entered the sharp curve at Frankford Junction Tuesday night.

Officials said Wednesday more than 200 people were injured in the crash and taken to city hospitals and at least eight of them remained in critical condition.

The seventh fatality was found in the wreckage late Wednesday morning. No other details were immediately available.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/20150514_Investigators_headed_to_Port_Richmond_to_probe_deadly_derailment.html#XFCsue8rITcXdqvA.99

2 Dead After Small Plane Crashes In West Goshen

West Goshen Township, PA – Two people were killed when the small plane they were flying in crashed in the 1000 block of Saunders Lane, near Andrews Drive, in West Goshen at 1:34 p.m. Sunday afternoon, county officials said.

Dispatchers said two people were found dead following the crash. An official said they were the only people on board.

The aircraft, a single-engine Piper PA28, had taken off from the Brandywine Airport and flown over Route 202, before it went out of control and crashed in a field about two miles away from the airport, officials said.

Emergency crews reported that the plane burst into flames following the crash.

Read more:

http://www.dailylocal.com/general-news/20150329/2-dead-after-small-plane-crashes-in-west-goshen/2

Plane Overshoots Runway At Pottstown Municipal Airport

POTTSTOWN, PA – A small plane crashed at the end of the runway upon landing at Pottstown Municipal Airport Wednesday afternoon.

Pottstown Police along with the Pottstown Fire Department responded to the airport for a report of a crash around 4 p.m.

A propeller-powered monoplane was found with its nose down in the grass beyond the runway on the western side of the airport.

Pottstown Police Chief Rick Drumheller said airport safety crews responded to the scene first.

Read more: http://www.pottsmerc.com/general-news/20141001/plane-overshoots-runway-at-pottstown-municipal-airport

Railroad Ups Estimate Of Oil Spilled In Vandergrift Derailment

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Westmoreland County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Norfolk Southern Railroad officials say four of the derailed tanker cars in Vandergrift leaked more than 3,500 gallons of crude oil.

Initial reports Thursday said only about 1,000 gallons had leaked from one tanker.

David Pidgeon, Norfolk Southern spokesman, estimated that between 3,500 and 4,500 gallons of viscous “heavy” crude oil leaked from four tanker cars after the derailment. Pidgeon said most of the oil ended up in an MSI Corp. parking lot. None of it made it into the Kiski River.

In Thursday’s cold temperatures, the oil congealed soon after hitting the snow and workers were removing the oil and contaminated soil for proper disposal.

Read more: http://triblive.com/neighborhoods/yourallekiskivalley/yourallekiskivalleymore/5596923-74/railroad-oil-norfolk#ixzz2tKEFEJyM
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Governor: 4 Dead, 63 Hurt In NYC Train Derailment

Map of New York Highlighting New York City (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

NEW YORK — A Metro-North train derailed on a curved section of track in the Bronx on Sunday morning, coming to rest just inches from the water and leaving four people dead and 63 injured, authorities said.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the deaths at a news conference at the site of the crash near the Spuyten Duyvil station. He said authorities believe everyone at the site has been accounted for and that the National Transportation Safety Board is en route.

Eleven people are believed to be in critical condition, authorities said. The train operator was among the injured, Cuomo said.

Metropolitan Transportation Authority spokeswoman Marjorie Anders said the big curve where the derailment occurred is in a slow speed area. The black box should be able to tell how fast the train was traveling, Anders said.

Read more: http://www.timesleader.com/news/news/1023495/Governor:-4-dead-63-hurt-in-NYC-train-derailment

More Choices Coming To Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport

Locator map of the Scranton-Wilkes-Barre Metropolitan Statistical Area in the northeastern part of the of . (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Private charter flights from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport to at least one new destination appear likely to start by the end of the year with the airport’s expanding relationship with Aviation Technologies.

Michael Gallagher, chief financial officer of Aviation Technologies, identified Pittsburgh, Washington, D.C., Florida, Myrtle Beach, S.C., and the Bahamas as potential destinations of interest.

Gallagher hopes the company can “make an announcement” regarding some sort of expansion of service in the fall, with an eye toward the flights becoming available on Dec. 1.

Airport officials are negotiating a long-term contract with Aviation Technologies to take over many important functions at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, such as airplane maintenance and running the flight school.

Read more:  http://citizensvoice.com/news/more-choices-coming-to-avoca-airport-1.1527453

San Francisco Plane Crash: Crew Tried To Abort Landing

The doomed Asiana Airlines jetliner had its throttles set to idle and was moving so slowly that it nearly stalled before it smashed into a seawall bordering a San Francisco International Airport runway, federal investigators said Sunday.

The crew tried to abort the landing and avert the disaster, which killed two teenage passengers and injured dozens of others, but it was too late, according to a preliminary review of flight data and cockpit communications by the National Transportation Safety Board.

The crew sought to accelerate 7 1/2 seconds before impact, investigators said.  Three seconds later, a vibrating “shaker stick” in the cockpit signaled an impending stall – a condition in which the wings lose lift and a plane can’t be controlled.

And with 1 1/2 seconds left, someone on board alerted an air traffic controller that the Boeing 777 jetliner would try to pull up and circle around.  It could not, and at 11:27 a.m. Saturday it bounced and skidded across the ground, losing its tail before it came to rest on the side of Runway 28L.

Read more:  http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/SF-plane-crash-Crew-tried-to-abort-landing-4650990.php

Mother Of Montoursville Flight 800 Victim Surprised At New Crash Cause Claim

This photograph is part of the National Transportation Safety Board accident report for TWA Flight 800. The date on the photograph shows as May 20, 1997. It is figure 29 of the report, which is described as: A photograph of the large three-dimensional reconstruction, with the support scaffolding visible. Uploaded at full size as pulled from the report. URL of this report: http://www.ntsb.gov/Publictn/2000/AAR0003.pdf (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

MONTOURSVILLE — Claims of proof that the cause of the TWA Flight 800 crash in 1996 was an external detonation comes as a surprised to a mother of one of the 21 people from Montoursville, Pa., who died aboard the plane.

Irenay Weaver, whose daughter Monica was one of the 16 Montoursville High School students killed, said she was feeling disbelief upon learning Wednesday that former investigators of the crash are making that claim in a documentary that’s slated to be released next month.

Weaver questioned why people will not let it go.

“We’ve let it go,” she said of the victims’ families. “I don’t think we will ever know (the cause.).”

Read more:  http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2013/06/mother_of_montoursville_flight.html#/0