Amtrak train derails in Vermont after hitting rock slide

An Amtrak train derailed Monday morning in Northfield, Vt., after hitting a rock slide lying on the tracks — an incident that Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin called "an act of nature." State police and federal authorities were investigating.

Six people, including one crew member, were taken to a nearby hospital with non life-threatening injuries, the U.S. Department of Transportation reported. One crew member was airlifted to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, N.H., with serious injuries.

The Federal Railroad Administration had investigators on site.

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Speaking to reporters on Monday afternoon, Shumlin said there was no suspicion of speeding by the conductor or wrongdoing in general, the Burlington Free Press reported. The rail track had been reconstructed within the last several years.

"A freight train went through late last night, and it passed without any incident," Shumlin said. "The ledge had to have fallen in the last several hours. ... It was an act of nature really beyond the control of anyone who was conducting the train or running the train."

The crash comes after an Amtrak train derailed in Philadelphia on May 12, killing eight passengers and injuring 200. In that crash, the train was going 106 mph in a 50-mph zone, but federal investigators continue to review reasons for the crash.

Less than a month after that crash, federal regulators called for passenger trains to have two qualified crew members in the locomotive or in close communication when operating in areas without automatic braking.

In a 10-page safety advisory, the Federal Railroad Administration also called on passenger railroads to use automatic braking where available to comply with speed limits, identify locations where the speed limit drops at least 20 mph for a curve and install additional speed-limit signs along tracks.

Contributing: Elizabeth Murray, Burlington Free Press