Tests: Maintenance Workers Killed By Train Were On Drugs

Federal safety officials say both maintenance workers killed by an Amtrak train in April near Philadelphia were on drugs when the crash happened.

Associated Press

Jan 27, 2017

In this June 4, 2014 file photo, a Norfolk Southern locomotive moves along the tracks in Norfolk, Va. Three of the biggest freight railroads operating in the U.S. have told telling the government they won’t make a 2018 deadline to start using safety technology intended to prevent accidents like the deadly derailment of an Amtrak train in Philadelphia last May. Norfolk Southern, Canadian National Railway and CSX Transportation and say they won’t be ready until 2020, according to a list provided to The Associated Press by the Federal Railroad Administration. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)

PHILADELPHIA — Federal safety officials say both maintenance workers killed by an Amtrak train in April near Philadelphia were on drugs when the crash happened.

Toxicology reports released Thursday show backhoe operator Joseph Carter Jr. had cocaine in his system and supervisor Peter Adamovich tested positive for morphine, codeine and oxycodone.

The workers were struck by a train traveling at 100 mph while performing maintenance along the tracks. Tests show the train's engineer tested positive for marijuana.

Investigators are blaming at a lax safety culture for putting the workers in harm's way.

The track where the backhoe was working was closed to trains until about 20 minutes before the crash.

National Transportation Safety Board investigators found a foreman supervising the maintenance work never called the train dispatcher to request that the track be closed again.