Attorney: Road “Daze” to Blame for Derailment
By:   //  News Briefs, US News

According to his attorney, engineer William Rockefeller testified to the National Transportation Safety Board that he experienced a hypnotic-like “daze” in the moment before the commuter train he was piloting jumped the tracks, killing four people. Jeffrey Chartier, attorney for Rockefeller, went on to say that his client momentarily nodded at the controls before realizing something was wrong and hitting the brakes.

The NTSB continues to investigate the derailing and said it was too soon to make a judgement about whether the wreck was caused by human error. No problems with either the train or track mechanical systems have been found. Alcohol tests on the crew were negative – drug test results aren’t back yet. There are many questions still unanswered in the investigation of the derailment of the Metro-North Railroad commuter train, which came off the tracks after going into a curve at 82 mph, when the posted speed was 30 mph.

Rockefeller, 46 – a 15 year employee of the railroad and with 10 years of engineering experience – had no previous incidents of concern in his record. Union officials claimed he had been running that particular route for two weeks and was well-qualified to do so. The NTSB investigation is continuing. (Derek Dowell – VNN) (Image: Flickr | baslow)

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