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The first lawsuits stemming from the May 12, 2015 deadly Amtrak crash that killed eight people and injured more than 200 others — 11 critically — have been filed and dozens more are anticipated as federal investigators uncover information during their review.
Philadelphia Amtrak Derailment
Just before 9:30 p.m., an Amtrak Northeast Regional train traveling to New York City from Washington D.C. derailed in Philadelphia while traveling 102 mph in a 50 mph zone of curved tracks. The speed limit is 80 mph limit just before the curve begins.
There were 238 passengers and five crew members on board the seven-car train.
CNN reported that Amtrak derailment investigators were studying “good quality video” showing the train’s acceleration in the moments leading to the derailment and crash. A cause has not been identified.
National Transportation Safety Board member Robert Sumwalt told the network that 65 seconds before the end of the video recording, the train speed surpassed 70 mph and continued to steadily increase.
“It just shows the speed alone,” Sumwalt said. “It doesn’t tell how the speed got there.”
There are also reports that an object struck the train.
The lawyer for the Amtrak engineer, Brandon Bostian, has said his client has no memory of the derailment. Bostian lost consciousness in the crash.
“He remembers coming into the curve (and) attempting to reduce speed,” attorney Robert Goggin told Good Morning America. “The last thing he recalls is coming to, looking for his bag, getting his cell phone, turning it on and calling 911.”
Amtrak Derailment Lawsuits
Thus far, the conductor, who was critically injured in the crash, as well as an Amtrak employee who was riding as a passenger, have filed negligence lawsuits, as have four passengers. The passengers allege “serious and disabling injuries.”
The conductor, 33-year-old Emilio Fonseca, was on a bathroom break when the derailment occurred. He suffered a broken neck, back and both shoulders, and was among five people still in critical condition, Yahoo News reported.
His lawyer said the train suddenly surged forward and then crashed.
Railroad worker Bruce A. Phillips, whose lawsuit says he suffered “traumatic brain injury, traumatic brain injury, multiple contusions and lacerations across his body, and multiple orthopedic and neurological injuries,” was off-duty and riding the train to New York for free, according to the New York Daily News.
Phillips, who is suing for a minimum of $600,000, was off-duty and riding the train to New York for free. His wife is seeking punitive damages in the lawsuit.
Phillips, who was in one of the last of the seven passenger cars, “was violently hurled about the railcar, striking his body on numerous parts of the railcar interior before slamming on the floor,” the Amtrak lawsuit charged.
Fox News reported that the passengers who filed lawsuits include “two cousins from Spain — one of whom nearly lost an arm — and a Brooklyn advertising executive who broke ribs, tore knee ligaments and lost teeth but staggered to help people before collapsing and being carried away on a gurney.”
Legal experts expect medical claims alone from the Amtrak train crash will cost hundreds of millions of dollars. Federal law caps total rail-accident damages at $200 million.
Obtain a Free Amtrak Train Crash Lawsuit Evaluation
If you or a loved one were injured or killed during the May 12, 2015 Amtrak derailment, you may have a legal claim.
