--- description: The NTSB's investigation of last month's deadly Amtrak crash outside Philadelphia is zeroing in on the engineer's cell phone records title: Amtrak Crash Investigators Focusing on Engineer's Cell Phone image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt46eeb28e8ab67bfc/6988528e2dce0148a89e3f9c/amtrak-crash.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 # Amtrak Crash Investigators Focusing on Engineer's Cell Phone  by [Charlotte Alter](/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Jun 2, 2015 3:23 PM CUT  Emergency personnel work at the scene of an Amtrak train wreck on May 12, 2015, in Philadelphia. Emergency personnel work at the scene of an Amtrak train wreck on May 12, 2015, in Philadelphia.Joseph Kaczmarek—AP  by [Charlotte Alter](/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Jun 2, 2015 3:23 PM CUT The National Transportation Safety Board’s investigation of last month’s deadly Amtrak crash outside Philadelphia is zeroing in on the engineer’s cell phone records after establishing that there were no mechanical problems that contributed to the accident. According to a [preliminary report ](http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/DCA15MR010%5Fpreliminary.pdf "undefined")released Tuesday, the [NTSB](http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/DCA15MR010%5Fpreliminary.pdf "undefined") has established that there were “no anomalies” in the train’s brake system, signals or track structure. Investigators have obtained engineer Brandon Bostian’s cell phone records and have established that calls and texts were made that day, but they’re still working to figure out whether he was on his phone as he was driving the train. Bostian suffered a head injury in the crash, and his [lawyer has said he has no memory ](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/amtrak-train-engineer-brandon-bostian-doesnt-remember-crash-attorney-says/ "undefined")of what happened. The NTSB also found damage to the train’s windshield, but couldn’t determine whether this came from rocks that were thrown at the train or from the crash itself. They found no evidence that the damage was caused by gunshots. ### See Photos of the Amtrak Train Crash in Philadelphia  Emergency personnel work the scene of the Amtrak train wreck on May 12, 2015 in Philadelphia. Joseph Kaczmarek—AP  Emergency personnel work the scene of the Amtrak train wreck on May 12, 2015 in Philadelphia. Joseph Kaczmarek—AP  Emergency personnel help a passenger at the scene of the Amtrak train wreck on May 12, 2015 in Philadelphia. Joseph Kaczmarek—AP  Rescue workers climb into the wreckage of a derailed Amtrak train to search for victims in Philadelphia on May 12, 2015. Bryan Woolston—Reuters  Emergency personnel work the scene of a train wreck on May 12, 2015, in Philadelphia. Joseph Kaczmarek—AP  Emergency personnel work the scene of the Amtrak train wreck on May 12, 2015 in Philadelphia. Joseph Kaczmarek—AP  A crime scene investigator looks inside a train car after a train wreck on May 12, 2015, in Philadelphia. Joseph Kaczmarek—AP  A police officer takes a seat near the wreckage of an Amtrak passenger train which derailed in Philadelphia on May 12, 2015. Mark Makela—Getty Images  Officials survey the site of a derailed Amtrak train in Philadelphia on May 13, 2015. Mike Segar—Reuters ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3905015/amtrak-crash-engineer-cell-phone/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3905015/amtrak-crash-engineer-cell-phone/"},"headline":"Amtrak Crash Investigators Focusing on Engineer's Cell Phone","datePublished":"2015-06-02T15:23:09.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:03:14.089Z","description":"National Transportation Safety Board found no problems with train's brakes, signals or tracks","url":"https://time.com/3905015/amtrak-crash-engineer-cell-phone/","keywords":["Transportation","Amtrak","Crash","Train","cell phone"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt46eeb28e8ab67bfc/6988528e2dce0148a89e3f9c/amtrak-crash.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Charlotte Alter","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/charlotte-alter/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt46eeb28e8ab67bfc/6988528e2dce0148a89e3f9c/amtrak-crash.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Amtrak Crash","caption":"Amtrak Crash","creditText":"Joseph Kaczmarek—AP","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":"https://time.com/3905015/amtrak-crash-engineer-cell-phone/","name":"Amtrak Crash Investigators Focusing on Engineer's Cell Phone"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Amtrak Planning Faster Wifi In Northeast","description":"Amtrak releases its latest plan to lure more customers, or at the very least make for a more connected trip. The company plans to solicit bids to upgrade its wifi network along the Northeast Corridor Line.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/v8I6DrZm/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-06-13T21:21:47.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/v8I6DrZm.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3905015/amtrak-crash-engineer-cell-phone/","duration":"PT1M1S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3905015/amtrak-crash-engineer-cell-phone/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```