ERIC THAYER/REUTERSTrain engineer William Rockefeller Jr. (center) has become the focal point of the investigation. Several sources told the Daily News that he lost focus moments before the wreck that killed four and injured 75.
He was rested. His brakes were working. And there was no booze on his breath.
Both William Rockefeller and the Metro-North train he was driving appeared to be in good shape on the day of the deadly crash in The Bronx.
'There was every indication he had time to get rest, to get focused,' Earl Weener of the National Transporation Safety Board said Tuesday.
As Weener spoke, Rockefeller was being grilled by federal investigators about Sunday's crash.
Asked about reports that Rockefeller 'zoned out' just before the derailment, Weener said, 'We don't know that at this moment.'
But Rockefeller was in the second day of a five day shift and he had been running trains on this route since Nov. 17, so this was not new territory for him, said Weener.
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The new NTSB revelations came after The Daily News reported that Rockefeller told cops after the crash, 'I was in a daze.'
The Metro-North train engineer involved in Sunday's deadly crash told cops afterward, 'I was in a daze.'
'I don't know what I was thinking about and the next thing I know I was hitting the brakes,' William Rockefeller said, a law enforcement source told the Daily News.
Those are the first public words from the 46-year-old engineer whose role in the tragic wreck is now the subject of a federal investigation.
Rockefeller, who was hurtling down the tracks at a breakneck 82 mph, had no recollection of the events leading up to the train derailment, the source told The News.
The veteran engineer, now on unpaid leave, also told investigators he wasn't sure how the locomotive built up so much speed.
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'It seemed like he lost his concentration or focus,' another source said.
Rockefeller, who has stayed out of sight since the crash, was being questioned by federal investigators Tuesday, sources said. He has hired Bronx lawyer Jeffrey Chartier to represent him.
'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,' Gov. Cuomo said Tuesday on WNYC radio.
Among other things, investigators will be looking into Rockefeller's work schedule to see if he was logging too many hours on the job - and checking whether he might have a sleeping disorder that made him groggy, a source said.
In the meantime, Cuomo has ordered the MTA to begin 'implementing a safety stand-down that will require all employees to participate in safety briefings.'
Investigators are looking into Rockefeller's work schedule to see if he was logging too many hours on the job - and checking whether he might have a sleeping disorder that made him groggy, a source said.
PHOTOS: METRO-NORTH TRAIN DERAILS IN NEW YORK: 4 DEAD AND 75 INJUREDRockefeller had worked the afternoon shift for many years and just two weeks ago switched to the 5 a.m. shift, NBC News reported.
A Metro-North engineer pulling into Grand Central Terminal told a News reporter that it's possible Rockefeller could have fallen asleep at the controls.
'The job can be tiresome,' said the engineer, who asked not to be identified. 'You've got to get your sleep at night. You've got to get your sleep!'
Still, the engineer added, the number of hours they work is strictly monitored and there is 'no holiday push' by management to work more.
'The limits are set by the Federal Railroad Administration - the federal government,' he said. 'Eleven hours and 59 minutes is the most you can work. Then you have to have a four hour break to sleep. But nobody works that many hours.'
Another engineer told The News that there's a lot of snoozing on the job by Metro-North workers.
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'People doze off in their cars all the time,' he said. 'It is what it is.'
But the engineer, who also did not want to be identified, was reluctant to talk about Rockefeller.
'There's enough nails in his coffin as it is,' he said. 'He's a good guy.'
Rockefeller has stayed silent on the advice of his union, the Association of Commuter Rail Employees.
A pair of State Troopers briefly visited his house in Germantown, N.Y., earlier Tuesday. They left without comment.
Town Supervisor Roy Brown said Rockefeller was 'not a troublemaker' and was getting a raw deal.
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'Now everybody is a train expert,' Brown groused. 'People are concerned that there is a rush to judgment.'
Kerrie Abela, a friend of the family, said she exchanged texts with Rockefeller's wife, Cathy, after the crash Sunday to see if he was OK.
'She did say that he is in a state of shock and is overwhelmed by what happened,' Abela said.
Abela says Rockefeller is 'just a level-headed, conscientious, do-anything-for-you guy.'
'He might have a beer socially, but he is not one of those people who drinks excessively,' she said. 'I have never seen him tie one on.'
Asked what might have happened, Abela said, 'I am guess something went wrong with the train.'
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The National Transportation Safety Board says mechanical error is not suspected in the crash, which killed four people and left 75 injured. The brakes worked fine at nine earlier stops.
'At this point, we are not aware of any problems or anomalies with the brakes,' Earl Weener of the NTSB said earlier.
The Bronx District Attorney's office has launched its own probe to determine if there is evidence enough to file criminal charges.
Meanwhile, the first of what's likely to be an avalanche of lawsuits was filed against Metro-North.
Denise Williams, a 55-year-old dentist from Orange County who suffered a broken back and collarbone, is alleging negligence, excessive speed, poor training, supervision and maintenance.
'No amount of money will remunerate her for her injuries,' her lawyer, Michael Lamonsoff, said.
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Williams, a retired Army colonel and veteran of Operation Desert Storm, has some sensation in her limbs and can move them. But it's unclear if she will fully recover, the attorney said.
The deadly disaster has raised fresh questions about whether an automatic crash-avoidance system called positive train control, or PST, might have prevented it.
Metro-North is supposed to install the system on its trains by 2015, but the agency has requested an extension.
'This incident, if anything, heightens the importance of additional safety measures, like that one,' said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), whose state is also served by Metro-North. 'I'd be very loath to be more flexible or grant more time.'
The NTSB said the brakes on the doomed train weren't even fully engaged when the seven-car train tumbled off the tracks about 100 yards north of the Spuyten Duyvil station.
In fact, it wasn't until about five seconds before the train stopped tumbling that they were, Weener said.
Rockefeller, an engineer with at least a decade's worth of experience, was travelling 52 mph over the speed limit as he approached the deadly curve, where the speed limit is supposed to be 30 mph.
Killed in the crash were James Lovell, 58; James Ferrari, 59; Kisook Ahn, 35; and Donna Smith, 54.
Lovell's wake is Thursday at Clinton Inc. Funeral Homes in Cold Spring, N.Y. His funeral mass is 11 a.m. Friday at Our Lady of Loretto church in Cold Spring.
Ferrari's wake is Wednesday at the Cortland Funeral Home in Verplanck, N.Y. His funeral mass is 10 a.m. Thursday at The Church of the Divine Love in Montrose, N.Y.
Smith's funeral plans were still being finalized. And Ahn's family was believed to be en route to the U.S. from South Korea to claim her body.
With Barry Paddock, Vera Chinese, Barbara Ross and Irving DeJohn.
pdonohue@nydailynews.com
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Posted by Unknown on Tuesday, December 3, 2013 - Rating: 4.5
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