All Eyes on Engineer as Amtrak Probe Unfolds

New details are emerging Thursday about this week's deadly Amtrak crash in Philadelphia, including more about the man at the controls of the train.

NTSB officials recovered the train's event recorder. Preliminary information shows Amtrak Northeast Regional Train 188 was going into a curve much too fast just before it derailed.

The speed limit on that curve is just 50 miles per hour. The train started around it at 106 miles an hour.

The engineer tried to slow the train, slamming on the emergency brake, but it was too little, too late.

"In the next three seconds, three or four seconds, the speed of the train had only decreased to 102," NTSB investigator Robert Sumwalt said.

Why exactly the train was going so fast will be the biggest question facing investigators.

"Clearly it was reckless in terms of the driving by the engineer. There's no way in the world he should have been going that fast into the curve," Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter told CNN's "The Situation Room."

The man behind the controls of the Amtrak train has been identified as 32-year-old Brandon Bostian.

According to his attorney, he has no recollection of the crash or anything unusual happening. But he is cooperating with police and has submitted a blood sample.

Bostian was treated for a concussion and injuries to his legs. Meanwhile, at least eight passengers have been confirmed dead, and some are still missing.

Bob Gildersleeve Sr., father of one the missing passengers, said his son's "life may have been snuffed out. And my grandchildren are broken-hearted and I'm cried out."

Police are widening the search area around the crash site Thursday in hopes of finding missing passengers who may have been thrown from the train.

Meanwhile, the Amtrak crash has quickly become a political issue in Washington, where the House Appropriations Committee moved forward with a $250 million cut from last year's Amtrak funding.

Democrats fought to increase funds for the shrunken transportation budget. But Republicans rejected the idea, arguing that increasing the funding without finding cuts elsewhere would exceed spending limits.