So far, the NTSB has found no signs of a mechanical problem in the train derailment that killed four people and injured dozens. NBC's Tom Costello reports.
By Tracy Connor, NBC News
The engineer in the fatal Metro-North train derailment told the National Transportation Safety Board that he was in “a daze situation ... an autopilot kind of thing” when he took a curve at almost three times the speed limit, his lawyer told NBC News — as federal investigators said they found no problems with the brakes.
William Rockefeller told an NTSB hearing Tuesday afternoon that he essentially zoned out before Sunday’s crash in the Bronx and realized too late that he was going too fast for the curve, said his lawyer, Jeffrey Chartier.
"Billy has been fully cooperative. He has not held anything back," Chartier said.
"He is devastated. There are no words for how he is feeling. He was emotional today (during the hearing), crying while he talked. He feels terribly for the families."
The possibility that Rockefeller dozed off before the crash has not been ruled out, although he did not say he was asleep in his initial interview, a senior law enforcement official said.
After years of working a shift that started in the afternoon, Rockefeller switched to a new schedule with a 5 a.m. start just two weeks ago — and investigators will try to determine if a change in his body clock was a factor, transit sources said. Chartier said Tuesday that Rockefeller slept from 8:30 p.m. to 3:30 a.m. the night before the crash and felt rested.
The engineer, who suffered minor injuries, told police soon after the crash that he got "white line fever" — a term truckers use to describe being hypnotized by the road on a long trip, one source said.
Eric Thayer / Reuters
Metro-North engineer William Rockefeller Jr. is loaded into an ambulance after the train derailment.
"Immediately after it happened he did everything he could to help people,” Chartier said. “He did not just walk away and get medical attention."
Rockefeller, a 15-year veteran with an "impeccable record," planned to cooperate fully, said his union representative.
"He is not a guy who runs away," said Anthony Bottalico, head of the Association of Commuter Rail Employees Local 1.
Letter from Federal Railroad Administration to MTA (PDF)
Metro-North retiree Michael McClendon said he could not imagine being in his longtime friend's shoes.
"I don't know how he's coping with the fact that he may have been responsible for the deaths of four people and 63 injuries," he said. "Knowing the kind of personality he is, that's going to weigh on him for the rest of his life. "
There are no indications Rockefeller was texting or talking on the phone or engaged in any other activity as the train jumped the tracks, the source said. Authorities are examining his phone.
Peter Foley / EPA
National Transportation Safety Board and Metropolitan Transportation Authority inspectors check the train tracks leading up to the fatal passenger train derailment.
They are waiting for the results of drug and alcohol blood tests after a breath test performed at the scene was negative.
Black-box data recorders recovered from the wreckage showed the seven-car train was traveling at 82 mph — first in a 70 mph zone, and then as it entered a curve that had a 30 mph speed limit before the Spuyten Duyvil station.
The throttle was engaged until six seconds before the locomotive came to a stop on its side, and the brakes were fully applied only five seconds before.
“There is no indication the brake systems were not functioning properly," NTSB member Earl Weener said at a Tuesday briefing.
He said the train was equipped with a dead man's pedal that the engineer keeps his left foot on. If he releases the pedal, the brakes are supposed to kick in. The pedal is being tested to make sure it was functional.
It's possible that safety enhancements like a Positive Train Control system — which uses computers and satellites to override engineers and prevent accidents — would have prevented the derailment, he said.
Weener said Rockefeller was working his regularly scheduled route on a shift he'd had since Nov. 17. He had enough time between shifts to get a full eight hours of sleep, he said.
MTA spokesman Aaron Donovan said the agency's rules require eight hours of rest between regular shifts, and 10-hour breaks on longer shifts, but he could not comment on Rockefeller's work hours.
In the event that a train operator feels they can't safely run the train — whether because of sleep or some other reason — they are supposed to notify the dispatcher and other crew members, Donovan said. They can stop the train and wait for assistance.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday that there are "all sorts of liability questions" arising from the derailment.
“This operator is not going to be operating a train any time soon, I can assure you, but there is a process and he has rights,” he told WNYC.
“I don’t want to speculate what may or may not have been the cause for what was excessive speed and reckless handling of the train," he said.
During a news conference, An NTSB official discusses the various tests the Metro-North train braking system had gone through prior to, and on the day of the incident.
Police and prosecutors will determine if Rockefeller faces any charges. Legal experts said they will try to determine if he showed up for work well-rested and fit for duty, or if he was impaired by lack of sleep, a substance or an unreported medical condition.
"Was he out late the night before? Had they recently changed his shift? Did he have a mini-stroke or something?" said Alan Abramson, who represented an assistant captain who was prosecuted in a fatal 2003 Staten Island ferry crash.
If there was no recklessness, negligence or criminal intent, he might not be charged, Abramson said.
"There are times when there are terrible accidents and people have been hurt or killed, but that doesn’t mean a criminal act was committed," he said.
Civil liability is another matter, however, and the MTA is looking at the likelihood of multiple lawsuits.
Several of the injured have already hired attorneys. Joel Faxon, who was already representing a dozen passengers from a derailment in Connecticut in May, said two from Sunday's mishap has consulted with him and have 90 days to file a claim.
"There is no way that train should be going 82 mph," Faxon said.
NBC News' Jonathan Dienst, Tom Costello and Andrew Siff contributed to this report.
Related:
Carlo Allegri / Reuters
At least four people were killed and 63 others were injured when a Metro-North train jumped the tracks as it was rounding a curve about 100 yards from a stop.
This story was originally published on Tue Dec 3, 2013 11:18 AM EST
By Tracy Connor, NBC News
The engineer in the fatal Metro-North train derailment told the National Transportation Safety Board that he was in “a daze situation ... an autopilot kind of thing” when he took a curve at almost three times the speed limit, his lawyer told NBC News — as federal investigators said they found no problems with the brakes.
William Rockefeller told an NTSB hearing Tuesday afternoon that he essentially zoned out before Sunday’s crash in the Bronx and realized too late that he was going too fast for the curve, said his lawyer, Jeffrey Chartier.
"Billy has been fully cooperative. He has not held anything back," Chartier said.
"He is devastated. There are no words for how he is feeling. He was emotional today (during the hearing), crying while he talked. He feels terribly for the families."
The possibility that Rockefeller dozed off before the crash has not been ruled out, although he did not say he was asleep in his initial interview, a senior law enforcement official said.
After years of working a shift that started in the afternoon, Rockefeller switched to a new schedule with a 5 a.m. start just two weeks ago — and investigators will try to determine if a change in his body clock was a factor, transit sources said. Chartier said Tuesday that Rockefeller slept from 8:30 p.m. to 3:30 a.m. the night before the crash and felt rested.
The engineer, who suffered minor injuries, told police soon after the crash that he got "white line fever" — a term truckers use to describe being hypnotized by the road on a long trip, one source said.
Metro-North engineer William Rockefeller Jr. is loaded into an ambulance after the train derailment.
"Immediately after it happened he did everything he could to help people,” Chartier said. “He did not just walk away and get medical attention."
Rockefeller, a 15-year veteran with an "impeccable record," planned to cooperate fully, said his union representative.
"He is not a guy who runs away," said Anthony Bottalico, head of the Association of Commuter Rail Employees Local 1.
Letter from Federal Railroad Administration to MTA (PDF)
Metro-North retiree Michael McClendon said he could not imagine being in his longtime friend's shoes.
"I don't know how he's coping with the fact that he may have been responsible for the deaths of four people and 63 injuries," he said. "Knowing the kind of personality he is, that's going to weigh on him for the rest of his life. "
There are no indications Rockefeller was texting or talking on the phone or engaged in any other activity as the train jumped the tracks, the source said. Authorities are examining his phone.
National Transportation Safety Board and Metropolitan Transportation Authority inspectors check the train tracks leading up to the fatal passenger train derailment.
They are waiting for the results of drug and alcohol blood tests after a breath test performed at the scene was negative.
Black-box data recorders recovered from the wreckage showed the seven-car train was traveling at 82 mph — first in a 70 mph zone, and then as it entered a curve that had a 30 mph speed limit before the Spuyten Duyvil station.
The throttle was engaged until six seconds before the locomotive came to a stop on its side, and the brakes were fully applied only five seconds before.
“There is no indication the brake systems were not functioning properly," NTSB member Earl Weener said at a Tuesday briefing.
He said the train was equipped with a dead man's pedal that the engineer keeps his left foot on. If he releases the pedal, the brakes are supposed to kick in. The pedal is being tested to make sure it was functional.
It's possible that safety enhancements like a Positive Train Control system — which uses computers and satellites to override engineers and prevent accidents — would have prevented the derailment, he said.
Weener said Rockefeller was working his regularly scheduled route on a shift he'd had since Nov. 17. He had enough time between shifts to get a full eight hours of sleep, he said.
MTA spokesman Aaron Donovan said the agency's rules require eight hours of rest between regular shifts, and 10-hour breaks on longer shifts, but he could not comment on Rockefeller's work hours.
In the event that a train operator feels they can't safely run the train — whether because of sleep or some other reason — they are supposed to notify the dispatcher and other crew members, Donovan said. They can stop the train and wait for assistance.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday that there are "all sorts of liability questions" arising from the derailment.
“This operator is not going to be operating a train any time soon, I can assure you, but there is a process and he has rights,” he told WNYC.
“I don’t want to speculate what may or may not have been the cause for what was excessive speed and reckless handling of the train," he said.
During a news conference, An NTSB official discusses the various tests the Metro-North train braking system had gone through prior to, and on the day of the incident.
Police and prosecutors will determine if Rockefeller faces any charges. Legal experts said they will try to determine if he showed up for work well-rested and fit for duty, or if he was impaired by lack of sleep, a substance or an unreported medical condition.
"Was he out late the night before? Had they recently changed his shift? Did he have a mini-stroke or something?" said Alan Abramson, who represented an assistant captain who was prosecuted in a fatal 2003 Staten Island ferry crash.
If there was no recklessness, negligence or criminal intent, he might not be charged, Abramson said.
"There are times when there are terrible accidents and people have been hurt or killed, but that doesn’t mean a criminal act was committed," he said.
Civil liability is another matter, however, and the MTA is looking at the likelihood of multiple lawsuits.
Several of the injured have already hired attorneys. Joel Faxon, who was already representing a dozen passengers from a derailment in Connecticut in May, said two from Sunday's mishap has consulted with him and have 90 days to file a claim.
"There is no way that train should be going 82 mph," Faxon said.
NBC News' Jonathan Dienst, Tom Costello and Andrew Siff contributed to this report.
Related:
- Train derailment latest in string of problems for Metro-North this year
- LaHood: 50-year-old transit systems in urgent need of upgrade
- Gov. Cuomo: Speed, human error may be to blame
Carlo Allegri / ReutersAt least four people were killed and 63 others were injured when a Metro-North train jumped the tracks as it was rounding a curve about 100 yards from a stop.
This story was originally published on Tue Dec 3, 2013 11:18 AM EST