YONKERS, N.Y. — The engineer whose speeding commuter train ran off the rails along a curve, killing four people, nodded at the controls before the wreck, and by the time he caught himself it was too late, a union official said Tuesday.
William Rockefeller “basically nodded,” said Anthony Bottalico, leader of the rail employees union, relating what he said the engineer told him.
“He had the equivalent of what we all have when we drive a car. That is, you sometimes have a momentary nod or whatever that might be. How long that lasts, I can’t answer that.”
Rockefeller’s lawyer did not return calls. During a late-afternoon news conference, federal investigators said they were still talking to Rockefeller, and they would not comment on his level of alertness around the time of the Sunday morning wreck in the Bronx.
Separately, however, two law enforcement officials said the engineer told police at the scene that his mind was wandering before he realized the train was in trouble, and by then it was too late to do anything about it. One of the officials said Rockefeller described himself as being “in a daze” before the wreck.
The officials, who were briefed on the engineer’s comments, spoke on condition of anonymity.
Questions about Rockefeller’s role mounted rapidly after investigators disclosed Monday that the Metro-North Railroad train jumped the tracks after going into a curve at 82 mph, or nearly three times the 30 mph speed limit. In addition to the four people killed, dozens were hurt.
National Transportation Safety Board member Earl Weener repeated it was too soon to say whether the accident was caused by human error, but he said no problems have been found with the brakes or signals.
Alcohol tests on the train’s crew members were negative, and investigators were still awaiting the results of drug tests, the NTSB official said.
