8th Victim Pulled from Amtrak Train Crash … Identified as Missing 45 Year Old Bob Gildersleeve Husband and Father of Two

The search is over for missing Bob Gildersleeve …

An 8th victim has been pulled from the of Amtrak 188 crash sight on Thursday. Bob Gildersleeve was thought to be aboard the train when it crashed Tuesday night in Philadelphia, however, remained missing. His family gathered in Philadelphia after the accident and passed out fliers with his photo. Sadly, what many had suspected came true. A body was discovered on Thursday by a cadaver dog in the wreckage and was identified as 45 year old Bob Gildersleeve, a husband and a father of two. Our hearts and prayers go out to the family of Bob Gildersleeve and the other families who lost loved ones in this terrible train crash.

The NTSB announced earlier that the train had been traveling 106 mph heading into a turn where the speed limit was 50 mph. The engineer claims he does not remember anything.

45 year old Bob Gildersleeve,  RIP

Bob Gildersleeve, a 45-year-old husband and father of two, was the latest victim identified in the crash.

Gildersleeve’s family gathered in Philadelphia after the accident, passing out fliers with his photo and identifying him as missing as recently as Wednesday.

With the discovery of the body by the cadaver dog Thursday, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter said officials had accounted for all 238 passengers and five crew members who were believed to be aboard the train, which started in Washington and passed through Maryland on its way toward New York.

By Thursday evening, officials said, all eight of the dead had been identified.

Gildersleeve’s death was confirmed by Doug Baker, chairman and CEO of Ecolab. Gildersleeve had worked at the Minnesota-based water, hygiene and technologies company for 22 years, most recently as vice president of corporate accounts for institutional business in North America out of offices in Towson.

The other seven who were among the dead aboard Amtrak 188 are as follows, 8 total have died:

1. Jim Gaines, an award-winning AP video software architect and a father of two
2. Justin Zemser. a Naval Academy midshipman from New York City
3. Abid Gilani. a senior vice president in Wells Fargo’s commercial real estate division in New York
4. Rachel Jacobs, who was commuting home to New York from her new job as CEO of the Philadelphia educational software startup ApprenNet
5. Laura Finamore, a New York City resident who worked in commercial real estate
6. Giuseppe Piras, an Italian businessman  from Sardinia who worked in the wine and olive oil business.
7. Derrick Griffith, 42, dean of students at Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn. A statement from the college described Griffith as “a pillar in the community” who had just been granted a Doctorate of Philosophy by the City University of New York.

Fatal Amtrak Crash: Train Traveling 106 MPH When it Hit Curve and Derailed … 7 Dead, 200 Injured and Individuals Still Missing (UPDATE: Amtrak Engineer ID’d as 32 Year Old Brandon Bostian, Not Talking & Has Lawyer)

THE CAUSE OF THIS LAST NIGHTS FATAL TRAIN CRASH IN PHILLY WAS EXCESSIVE SPEED …

According to the National Transportation Safety Board, the train that crashed in Philadelphia resulting in 7 dead, 200 injured and some still missing was going 106 mph as it approached the curve in Port Richmond. The NTSB stated the “black box” data recorder indicated that the train’s speed at 106 mph just before the curve. The train’s engineer applied emergency brakes, but several seconds later, the train’s speed was only down to 102 mph, when the data recorder stopped. The speed limit for that curve at Frankford Junction was 50 mph. It is safe to say that it was excessive speed, not an infrastructure problem that was the cause of this terrible train crash as the Amtrak train 188 was traveling twice the speed limit.

An Amtrak train involved in a fatal crash here was traveling at more than 100 miles an hour, twice the speed limit, as it entered a sharp curve where it derailed Tuesday night, federal officials said Wednesday.

As rescue personnel picked through the train’s wreckage and local hospitals cared for injured passengers, the National Transportation Safety Board said a “black box” data recorder put the train’s speed at 106 mph just before the curve. The train’s engineer applied emergency brakes, but several seconds later, the train’s speed was only down to 102 mph, when the data recorder stopped.

“As we know, it takes a long time to decelerate a train,” said NTSB member Robert Sumwalt in a news conference.

Referring to the application of the brakes before the crash, he added, “You’re supposed to enter the curve at 50 miles an hour. He was already in the curve.”

UPDATE I: As per Philly.com, the Amtrak train’s engineer is not talking and has lawyered up.

The train’s engineer, who has not been identified, declined to give a statement to police investigators and left the East Detectives Division with an attorney, police commissioner Charles H. Ramsey said Wednesday.

The train’s conductor, also unidentified, was at Einstein Hospital with a skull fracture, Ramsey said.

Brandon Bostian was the engineer of the Amtrak train that crashed in Philadelphia,
killing at least 7 and injuring more than 60. (LinkedIn)

UPDATE II: Amtrak Engineer of Derailed Train, Brandon Bostian, Can’t Remember Crash Details.

The lawyer of Brandon Bostian claims his client has no recollection of the crash.

Brandon Bostian, the engineer driving the Amtrak train that derailed in Philadelphia Tuesday night, has no recollection of the crash itself and “no explanation” for what happened, his attorney told ABC News.

The attorney for Bostian, 32, a Queens, New York, resident, confirmed his identity to ABC News, and added that Bostian voluntarily turned over a blood sample and his cell phone and is cooperating with authorities.

Bostian was “very distraught” to learn of the loss of life in the crash, the attorney said, adding Bostian only remembers driving the train to the crash area generally, then later getting tossed around, coming to, finding his bag and his cell phone, and dialing 911.

Bostian suffered a concussion and head wound that required 14 staples, as well as injuries to both of his legs in the crash, the attorney said — but Bostian told the attorney he had “no health issues to speak of” before the crash and was on no medications.

Fatal Amtrak Train Derailment in Port Richmond at Frankford Junction … 6 People Reported Dead

Train 188 from Washington to New York with 238 passengers and five crew members aboard derailed …

Six people have now been declared dead and over 146 injured following the Amtrak train derailment in Port Richmond.  Of the 238 passengers on board the train, 6 have died, 8 passengers remain in critical condition at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia and many other passengers were injured suffering fractures ti limbs. The accident happened at about 9:28 PM, with six cars overturning and the engine separating from the rest of the train. It is unknown what called the derailment; however, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is launching a full team to investigate.

At least six people were killed and dozens injured, eight critically, when a northbound Amtrak train derailed Tuesday night in Port Richmond.

In the moments after the derailment, scores of emergency personnel swarmed over more than a half-dozen toppled train cars, trying to reach the dazed, the injured, the dying.

Some people were reported trapped in the train, and crews cut into the cars to try to free the injured.

At a briefing early Wednesday morning, with Gov. Wolf at his side, Mayor Nutter reported that five people had died and that 65 people were taken to area hospitals, 54 of them to Temple University Hospital.

Herbert Cushing, chief medical officer at Temple, reported later that a sixth person, who had suffered a massive chest injury, had died. Eight other patients were in critical condition.

Train 188, bound to New York from Washington with 238 passengers and five crew members aboard, had left 30th Street Station minutes before the accident, which occurred near a curve at Wheatsheaf Lane and I-95.

Amtrak has suspended travel between Philadelphia and New York.  Individuals with questions about their friends and family on train 188 should call Amtrak’s Incident Hotline at 800-523-9101.

UPDATE I: ‘Absolute disastrous mess’: 6 dead, 146 injured after Amtrak train derails.

“It is an absolute, disastrous mess,” Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter said of the crash site. “I’ve never seen anything like this in my life.”

Amtrak Northeast Regional Train 188 was traveling from Washington to New York when it derailed in the Port Richmond neighborhood of Philadelphia about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday.

The impact tore cars apart, sending seven of them flying from the tracks, and left the engine a mangled mess.

“We have confirmed an engine and all seven cars derailed,” a U.S. Department of Transportation representative told CNN on Wednesday, adding that the engine and two cars were left standing upright, three cars were tipped on their sides, and one was nearly flipped over on its roof. The seventh one is “leaning hard,” they said.

RAW VIDEO from aboard the  New York-Bound Amtrak Train Derails Near Philadelphia

UPDATE II: Amtrak cancels Baltimore, Northeast Corridor trains after derailment.

Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor service between New York and Philadelphia is suspended after a deadly derailment Tuesday night just north of Philadelphia.

Amtrak trains 151 and 181 are canceled Wednesday, and passengers in Baltimore are advised to use MARC trains 517 and 523, Maryland Transit Administration officials said. All MARC Penn Line service will run as scheduled.

Amtrak will run on a modified schedule between Washington and Philadelphia, Harrisburg and Philadelphia, and New York and Boston.

UPDATE III: Official Amtrak Blog – Amtrak Northeast Regional Train 188 at North Philadelphia

We are deeply saddened by the loss of life from Amtrak Northeast Regional Train 188 that derailed north of Philadelphia Tuesday evening. We ask the news media to be respectful of our customers, our employees, and their families.

There were approximately 238 passengers and 5 crew members on board. Individuals with questions about their friends and family on this train should call the Amtrak Incident Hotline 800-523-9101. Amtrak has also established a Family Assistance Center to work closely with family and friends of individuals on the train. Local emergency responders are on the scene and an investigation is ongoing.

Patrick J. Murphy PA @PatrickMurphyPA

10 Years Later after the Death & Disappearance of Natalee Hollwaoy in Aruba … Will Witness Jurrien de Jong’s Story Pan Out, “I saw Natalee Holloway on the last night that she was alive. I was the eyewitness … ” I knew she was dead.”

EVEN IF TRUE, WHO REALLY BELIEVES ARUBA AUTHORITIES WILL LOOK INTO THIS LEAD?

DAVE HOLLOWAY, BACK TO THE BEACH … Nearly 10 years later, after Alabama teen Natalee Holloway went missing in Aruba, a witness has come forward who says he knows what happened that night. The witness, ” Jurrien de Jong, says “I saw Natalee Holloway on the last night that she was alive. I was the eyewitness.” According to news accounts, Natalee Holloway’s father, Dave, has returned to Aruba to meet a man who claims he saw what happened to her 10 years ago. Dave Holloway brought a private investigator and cadaver dog to check out the potential witness’ story.  De Jong further went on to say,  “I saw that Joran was chasing Natalee into a small building under construction. In about five minutes he came out with Natalee in his arms, and slammed the body of Natalee on the floor, and then he made an opening in a crawl space … I knew she was dead.”

Natalee Holloway’s father has returned to Aruba to meet a man who claims he saw what happened to her 10 years ago. Dave Holloway brought a private investigator and cadaver dog to check out the potential witness’ story. The story was given to Inside Edition.

“I saw Natalee Holloway on the last night that she was alive. I was the eyewitness,” Jurrien de Jong told Inside Edition.

De Jong said he saw Joran van der Sloot, the primary suspect in Holloway’s disappearance, chase her into a small building under construction. He says van der Sloot then reemerged with Holloway in his arms, slam her body on the floor then make an opening in a crawl space. He has previously told media this building is a Marriott Hotel.

“I knew she was dead,” he told Inside Edition.

Natalee Holloway was just 18 when she vanished while on a Mountain Brook High School graduation trip to Aruba where she went missing on May 30, 2005 and was never seen again. The last individuals that Natalee was seen with was Joran Vander Sloot and the Kalpoe brothers, Deepak and Satish, leavings Carlos & Charlies.  All will remember the very first post that Scared Monkeys ever did on this missing persons case, ‘This Can’t Be Good For Tourism, Where’s Natalee Holloway?’ And sadly, this is what this lack of police investigation and island coverup was all about. Cronyism, corruption and coverup … how the island of Aruba and its officials covered up the death and disappearance of Natalee Holloway to protect one of their own and their tourism dollars.

Much, much more to come.

For much more information, read the extensive history of the disappearance of Natalee, read others opinions and analysis and to provide your own, go to Scared Monkeys Forum: Natalee Holloway.

French Prosecutor Brice Robin Says Germanwings Co-Pilot Deliberately Crashed Airbus Jet … Terrorism? (Update: [Pic] Co-Pilot Andreas Lubitz Deliberately Crashed Plane)

IT WAS NO ACCIDENT: The Germanwings Flight 4U9525 crash turns out to be a deliberate act of terrorism … Was it radical Islam or violent extremist?

A French prosecutor handling the plane crash of Germanwings Flight 4U9525 stated that the evidence from the cockpit voice recorder indicated that the co-pilot had deliberately crash ed the plane. According the the prosecutor, the co-pilot deliberately locked the captain out of the cockpit and steered the plane into its fatal descent. The co-pilot has been identified as 28 year old German Andreas Günter, the individual responsible for the deliberate airline crash. Lubitz was described as a German national. However, his motivation at this point for deliberately crashing the plane is unknown. Was he a lone wolf Islamic terrorist, was he a violent extremest, or was he crazy. Now the question becomes, why did this individual commit such a heinous act.

The chief Marseille prosecutor handling the investigation into the crash of a Germanwings jetliner said on Thursday that evidence from the cockpit voice recorder indicated that the co-pilot had deliberately locked the captain out of the cockpit and steered the plane into its fatal descent.

“At this moment, in light of investigation, the interpretation we can give at this time is that the co-pilot through voluntary abstention refused to open the door of the cockpit to the commander, and activated the button that commands the loss of altitude,” the prosecutor, Brice Robin, said.

He said it appeared that the co-pilot’s intention had been “to destroy the aircraft.” He said that the voice recorder showed that the co-pilot had been breathing until before the moment of impact, suggesting that he was conscious and deliberate in his actions. He said that his inquiry had shown that the crash was intentional.

More from the prosecutor discussing what took place prior to the plane crash killing all aboard.

The prosecutor said that the authorities had a full transcript of the final 30 minutes of the voice recorder.

“During the first 20 minutes, the pilots talk normally,” he said, saying they spoke in a “cheerful” and “courteous” way. “There is nothing abnormal happening,” he said.
The prosecutor said the transcript showed that the captain was preparing a briefing for landing in Düsseldorf. The co-pilot’s answer, the prosecutor said, was “laconic.”

The commanding pilot then asked the co-pilot to take over, and the noise of a seat backing up and a door closing could be heard.

“At this stage, the co-pilot is in control, alone,” the prosecutor said. “It is when he is alone that the co-pilot manipulates the flight monitoring system to activate the decent of the plane.” The prosecutor said that this action could only have been “voluntary.”

“You can hear the commanding pilot ask for access to the cockpit several times,” the prosecutor said. “He identifies himself, but the co-pilot does not provide any answer.”

“You can hear human breathing in the cockpit up until the moment of impact,” the prosecutor said. “The pilot was therefore alive.”

UK Daily Mail – Pic of co-pilot Andreas Lubitz

UPDATE I: Germanwings tragedy was no accident.

French prosecutor Brice Robin said in Marseille on Thursday that the co-pilot, Andreas Lubitz, requested control of the aircraft about 20 minutes into the flight. The pilot then left the cockpit, leaving the co-pilot in full control of the plane.

Lubitz manually and “intentionally” set the plane on the descent that drove it into the mountainside in the southern French Alps. It was the co-pilot’s “intention to destroy this plane,” Robin said.

Robin confirmed a report by The New York Times that the pilot tried aggressively to get back into the cockpit, but was denied access.

The prosecutor said the pilot was heard pleading with the co-pilot over a telephone intercom system from the cabin for access, but that he got no answer from the co-pilot.

VIDEO – click HERE or on pic to watch

UPDATE II: Germanwings plane crash – Live updates from UK Telegraph as investigations into French Alps disaster continues