The Metro-North engineer of the train that derailed Sunday in the Bronx told police he may have zoned out prior to the deadly crash, according to media reports.
An anonymous senior law enforcement official told NBC News that although engineer William Rockefeller did not say in his initial interview that he was asleep at the time, investigators did not rule out the possibility that he dozed off.
Transit sources told NBC News that investigators were looking into whether a change in Rockefeller’s body clock was a factor in the accident. Rockefeller switched to a shift beginning at 5 a.m. two weeks ago, after years of starting his shift in the afternoon, the sources said.
After recovering a black box from the crash site, the National Transportation Safety Board said Monday that the train entered a curve at approximately 82 miles per hour when it should have been going 30 miles per hour. The agency did not say why the train entered the curve at that speed.
Rockefeller’s union representative, Anthony Bottalico, told NBC News that the engineer planned to speak with the NTSB either Tuesday or Wendesday.
