Metro-North Train Derailment: Engineer Asleep at Controls Before Crash, Reports State
The conductor of the Metro-North train that derailed on Sunday was allegedly "zoned out" or asleep right before the train jumped a turn and crashed. Four people were killed in the accident, and dozens other injured in the crash.
"He was just somehow inattentive," a source told The New York Post.
Rockefeller also allegedly told authorities that he "zoned out" and only came to when an alarm began sounding, alerting him to the fact that the train was going way too fast. He then quickly slammed on the brakes, but the train, going nearly 50 miles over the limit for the turn, jumped the track and crashed, leaving four dead and many more injured.
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"If the engineer fails to slow down, it will provide an alarm and if he fails to brake, it will apply the emergency brakes," a transit authority told the Post.
Investigators are looking into the possibility that Rockefeller had been drinking. He denied that he had imbibed any alcohol, but authorities are waiting for the results of a toxicology report. They also took his cell phone to see whether he was texting or talking on it at the time of the accident.
The state of New York was rocked by the derailment, and politicians spoke out about their initial reactions to the devastation.
"When I heard about the speed, I gulped," Senator Charles Schumer said at a press conference. "For a train to be going 82 mph around that curve is just a frightening thought. And the fact that it was going 82 mph even in the 70 mph zone before the curve started raises so many questions, and it's scary."
"Like Senator Schumer, when I heard about the 82 mph, my breath was taken," Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut said. "It's beyond frightening. It's harrowing to think that a train was going 82 mph before a curve that required a 30 mph train to slow so substantially. Even in a 70 mph zone, 82 mph was completely unsafe. Whether the crash here occurred because of human error or equipment malfunction, that train was going way too fast, and certainly, speed was a contributing factor."
