--- description: The engineer has told investigators he doesn't remember what happened leading up to the crash title: Engineer Didn't Tell Dispatchers Amtrak Train Was Struck image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9a117c70c4c85def/69884cf23c163901654578f9/rtx1da3p.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Accident](/tag/accident/) ## Accident Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Engineer in Amtrak Derailment Didn't Tell Dispatchers Train Had Been Struck: NTSB by [NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 18, 2015 2:08 AM CUT  Emergency workers look through the remains of a derailed Amtrak train in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in this May 13, 2015 file photo Emergency workers look through the remains of a derailed Amtrak train in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in this May 13, 2015 file photoLucas Jackson—Reuters by [NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 18, 2015 2:08 AM CUT The engineer at the center of the deadly derailment in Philadelphia last week made no mention to dispatchers that the Amtrak train was possibly struck by a foreign object, a lead investigator said Sunday. “We interviewed the dispatchers and we listened to the dispatch tape, and we heard no communications at all from the Amtrak engineer to the dispatch center to say that something had struck his train,” National Transportation Safety Board investigator Robert Sumwalt said on [ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos](http://abcnews.go.com/US/ntsb-investigator-heard-amtrak-train-engineer-communications-suggest/story?id=31101697 "undefined"). Sumwalt told [CNN ](http://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2015/05/17/sotu-keilar-ntsb-robert-sumwalt-amtrak-188-crash-investigation.cnn "undefined")the same thing. But Sumwalt said the NTSB and FBI “see a mark on the windshield that we want to look at.” [_Read this story in_ _full from our partners at NBC News.com_](http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/amtrak-crash/engineer-amtrak-derailment-didnt-tell-dispatchers-train-had-been-struck-n360291?cid=par-time-article%5F20150518 "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3882058/amtrack-train-crash-derailment-safety-accident/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3882058/amtrack-train-crash-derailment-safety-accident/"},"headline":"Engineer in Amtrak Derailment Didn't Tell Dispatchers Train Had Been Struck: NTSB","datePublished":"2015-05-18T02:08:02.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T07:24:07.370Z","description":"The engineer has told investigators he doesn't remember what happened leading up to the crash","url":"https://time.com/3882058/amtrack-train-crash-derailment-safety-accident/","keywords":["Accident","safety"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9a117c70c4c85def/69884cf23c163901654578f9/rtx1da3p.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"NBC News","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nbc-news/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9a117c70c4c85def/69884cf23c163901654578f9/rtx1da3p.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"File photo of the derailed Amtrak train in Philadelphia Pennsylvania","caption":"File photo of the derailed Amtrak train in Philadelphia Pennsylvania","creditText":"Lucas Jackson—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/accident/","name":"Accident"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3882058/amtrack-train-crash-derailment-safety-accident/","name":"Engineer in Amtrak Derailment Didn't Tell Dispatchers Train Had Been Struck: NTSB"}}]}] ```