Amtrak settles with ex-engineer in 2017 Washington crash

SEATTLE (AP) — Amtrak has agreed to pay an ex-engineer for his pain and suffering caused by a 2017 derailment when his train sped off a curve in DuPont, Washington, killing three people and injuring dozens.

Minneapolis lawyer Fred Bremseth described the settlement as large, saying Steven Brown and his family will be taken care of for life, The Seattle Times reported.

“We think that it substantiates that it is Amtrak’s fault and not Mr. Brown’s,” Bremseth said.

The train traveled 80 mph in a 30-mph zone on Dec. 18, 2017, after Brown missed a sign to slow down. However, the National Transportation Safety Board concluded Amtrak played a major role in the Cascades 501 crash, while also blaming track owner Sound Transit, train owner Washington State Department of Transportation and the Federal Railroad Administration.

A safety board member said Brown was “set up to fail,” based on agencies’ mistakes, including inadequate practice runs and the trains’ lack of speed-control software. The crash happened on Amtrak’s first scheduled trip on new corridor through Tacoma, Lakewood and Nisqually.

Brown, 60, broke several bones in his face and torso when most of the train flew off the trestle onto Interstate 5 beneath.

An Amtrak spokesperson told the newspaper Monday that the company had no comment.