Amtrak Train May Have Been Struck Before It Derailed, Officials Say

New Yoirk Times ^ | May 15, 2015 | DAVE PHILIPPS and EMMA G. FITZSIMMONS

[MeshugeMikey]

PHILADELPHIA — An assistant conductor on the Amtrak train that derailed on Tuesday believes she heard the engineer tell another regional train operator in a radio transmission that the train had been struck by something just before the accident, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.

At a news conference on Friday, Robert L. Sumwalt, the safety board official who is leading the investigation, said the F.B.I. had been asked to examine what he described as a fist-size impact area found on the lower left side of the train’s windshield. Officials said that the F.B.I. had been called in because it has the forensics expertise needed for the investigation, but that it had not yet begun its analysis.

[MeshugeMikey]

here we go

[Alberta's Child]

Right. It was struck by some kind of projectile that made it accelerate to 106 mph in a 50-mph zone. WTF?

[MeshugeMikey]

Good question. Very good question.

[doc1019]

Good catch! ;-)

[left that other site]

An Airbus, perhaps?

[9thLife]

bird strike.

[bert]

The strike over putting firemen back in the engines will come later this year

[MeshugeMikey]

a high powered rifle drone

[RushIsMyTeddyBear]

Gotta protect the ‘crotch watcher’. Ruins the narrative.

[Secret Agent Man]

Why are they so invested in concocting a falsity, because the conductor is gay?

It makes no difference if something hit the train.

The train was going over twice the speed the curve in that part of the track was designed to handle. It was going to derail regardless if something hit the train first.

[2ndDivisionVet]

Lot of that going around:

SEPTA Says Commuter Train Hit By Projectile Just Before Amtrak Train Derailed
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3289394/posts

[soycd]

It’s a simple math problem. At 106 mph the chances of hitting a random flying object are double what you could hit at 53 mph.

[MeshugeMikey]

Id hope so.

they either have to get it right or fold up their tents and call it a day

[left that other site]

Correction:
An ASSAULT high powered rifle drone.

[Secret Agent Man]

If something hit the front of the train, at best, it would have slowed it down a bit, not accelerated it.

[SpaceBar]

I’m not saying it was aliens.

[MeshugeMikey]

Odd how we had aldready read about the impact of the projectile so far in advance of this “news” isnt it

[magua]

The cover up starts.

[MeshugeMikey]

Big BIrd!

[Mastador1]

Right. It was struck by some kind of projectile that made it accelerate to 106 mph in a 50-mph zone. WTF?

Damn that Superman and his practical jokes, it's all funny til the train derails and people die! I wonder what the next excuse for the engineer will be?