Uh oh: Amtrak engineer says he doesn't remember derailment

Once the news came out yesterday that the derailed Amtrak train was traveling more than twice the speed limit around the curve where the crash occurred, it was only natural to speculate that something might have been wrong with the engineer. Whether that was something self-inflicted or something entirely beyond his control, that would have to wait for more facts to come out. What the engineer is now saying through his lawyer does not exactly qualify as a fact, but it certainly fuels the theory that something was not what it should have been:

---

"He remembers driving the train, he remembers going to that area generally, has absolutely no recollection of the incident or anything unusual," attorney Robert Goggin, who said he represents Amtrak engineer Brandon Bostian, 32, of Forest Hills, Queens, told ABC's "Nightline." "The next thing he recalls is being thrown around, coming to, finding his bag, getting his cell phone and dialing 911," Goggin told the news program. Goggin said Bostian was injured in the crash and had 14 staples placed in his head and suffered a knee injury. "What he looked was exhausted," Goggin told ABC. Bostian was released from the hospital Wednesday. Philadelphia police said Wednesday night that he had been interviewed and had given a blood sample. Goggin said he also turned over his cell phone.

Now there are several types of I-don't-remember. There's the Clintonesque "I do not recall that" which means of course I recall it but it's all in my head and you can never prove it. There dude I was so sloshed, man. There's it all happened so fast. And then there's you know I guess I blacked out because the next thing I remember . . . There's no way to tell from the lawyer's statement which one applies here, but none of them suggest that the engineer was doing his job properly and something happened entirely outside his control. If it was a simple as his being distracted - and if he was texting or checking Facebook I guess his phone will show that pretty easily - then the "I don't recall" thing will be revealed as a dodge soon enough. If there was really something wrong with him, the toxicology will reveal that, or other aspects of the medical exam will. Either way I don't think this will be a mystery very long. In the meantime, condolensces to the families of all who lost their lives, with a personal mention of the family of Rachel Jacobs - the young wife and mother of a two-year-old who was an up-and-coming business leader in Philadelphia and also had close connections to some personal friends of mine in Detroit, where she was born and raised. God rest your souls, all of you.

---