NTSB Boots Union from Metro-North Investigation, Fox Reports

December 4, 2013 Railfanning.org News Wire

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has booted a union from the investigation into a fatal Metro-North crash in the Bronx on Sunday, Fox News reported.

According to the report, the NTSB booted the Association of Commuter Rail Employees (ACRE) after a representative indicated engineer William Rockefeller “nodded” off just before the train derailed.

The Manhattan-bound Metro-North train was traveling 82 mph as it took a curve just north of the Spuyten Duyvil station that had a speed limit of 30 mph, according to various media reports. Four people were killed and more than 60 injured in the derailment.

“He basically nodded . . . He had the equivalent of what we all have when we drive a car — that is, you sometimes have a momentary nod,” Fox News quoted Anthony Bottalico, the union’s general chairman, as saying. “How long that lasts, I can’t answer that. Only Billy can.

“He caught himself, but he caught himself too late,” Bottalico continued. “He put the train in emergency, but that was six seconds prior to derailment.”

 

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