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Volume XX • Number 49 • December 5-11, 2013 •
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Routine commute turns to death at 82 mph By PAULETTE SCHNEIDER Four passengers were killed and more than 60 were injured when a Metro-North Hudson Line train derailed just a hundred yards north of the Spuyten Duyvil station at around 7:30 a.m. on Sunday. Shocking preliminary data from two of the train’s black box recorders shows that the train was hurtling around the sharp turn into the station at a speed of 82 miles per hour, the National Transportation Safety Board revealed on Monday. The speed limit approaching the turn is 30 mph, but the train was exceeding even the 70-mph limit on the straight section north of that point. William Rockefeller, the engineer operating the train, admitted that he had dozed off and was apparently shaken awake when the train hit the curve, according to published sources. At that point, he attempted to stop the train, but it was too late. Rockefeller, 46, was released from the hospital after treatment for injuries and is cooperating with investigators. Drugs, alcohol, or cellphone use at the time of the derailment are not at this point considered factors. The train involved was the type that’s pushed from the back by a locomotive engine but operated from the front car by an engineer. “Approximately six seconds before the rear engine of the train came to a stop, the throttle was reduced to idle,” NTSB spokesman Earl Weener said on Monday. “Approximately five seconds before the rear engine came to a stop, the brake pressure dropped from 120 psi to zero,
Rescue worker checks overturned Metro North train near the Spuyten Duyvil station after Sunday morning’s fatal crash. Four died in the horrific accident, which might have been caused by human error. Photo by Andrea Mistri resulting in full application of the brakes.” Weener stressed that the raw data “tells us what happened” but “doesn’t tell us
Governor Andrew Cuomo and MTA CEO Tom Prendergast inspect the crash site.
why it happened.” The NTSB is in the process of interviewing three train conductors as well as the engineer, whose drowsiness at that point in the trip has yet to be explained. Rockefeller had an “impeccable work record” during more than 10 years on the job, according to Association of Commuter Rail Employees chairman Tony Bottalico. All derailed train cars including the locomotive were lifted back onto the tracks by crane and were moved to a secure location for further examination. The track has been released to Metro-North, and limited service on the Hudson Line is in effect from Yonkers north. The 5:54 a.m. Hudson Line train from Poughkeepsie was carrying around 150 passengers from stations in Dutchess, Putnam and Westchester counties when it left the Tarrytown station and headed to Grand Central Terminal. Around 20 minutes short of its destination, the train derailed, sending all seven cars careening off the tracks. Local residents heard the loud screeching of wheels against rails. Many looked out their windows and saw the train cars lying on their sides or balancing askew, zig-zagged toward the shoreline where the Harlem River meets the Hudson. Smoke was rising above the wreckage.
Several cars had overturned more than once, and the lead car ended up at the water’s edge. Rocks and debris flew into the cars as passengers were jolted and hurled about. Within a half hour, 130 rescue workers who reported to the scene were able to get the injured passengers out of the fallen train and on their way to hospitals. FDNY’s firefighters used ladders to extract people through the window openings. Three of those killed had been ejected from the train. Canine units searched for others who may have been thrown into the surrounding brush, but none were found, according to an NYPD handler leaving the scene with his German shepherd on Sunday. Rescue divers also left the river without finding any victims. Injured passengers were taken to Level 1 trauma centers at St. Barnabas Hospital, Jacobi Medical Center and New York Presbyterian Hospital as well as to Montefiore Medical Center and Allen Hospital. Some of those sent to St. Barnabas were released, others were stabilized and few remain in critical condition, ER director Dr. David Listman said on Monday. The hospital will provide ongoing mental health counseling for injured passengers, particularly those who rely on the Hudson Line route they took on Continued on Page 9