LIRR Derailment Investigation: Conductor Doesn't 'Recall' Crash, Train Was Going 10 MPH

BROOKLYN, NY — The conductor of a Long Island Rail Road train that derailed at Atlantic Terminal on Wednesday, leaving over 100 people injured, told investigators he doesn't 'recall' what happened during the crash, a federal official told reporters Thursday evening.

The train was going 10 miles per hour at the time of the accident, more than double the 5 mile-per-hour speed limit inside the station, the official with the National Transportation Safety Board said. He added that the conductor has been cooperative during interviews.

""He basically said, 'I don't recall,'" the official said the conductor told investigators.

The conductor told investigators he was not on his cell phone at the time of the crash, and his cell phone records have been subpoenaed to confirm that.

The federal investigation into the derailment is underway, and officials say they could remain on the scene for up to a week.

Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board arrived in Brooklyn on Wednesday night to begin their search into what happened as the train was pulling into the station on track 6. The damaged train, which hit the "bumping block" at the end of the platform and plowed through a barrier, remained in place Thursday morning.

The train's engineer has been drug tested, Jim Southworth of the National Transportation Safety Board told reporters Wednesday night, and those results aren't yet known. Event recorders have also been recovered, he said.

Interviewing the officials involved was the next step, Southworth said.

“The most important thing we want to do now is get a chance to talk to the people who can tell us perhaps what happened," Southworth said. "That’s the engineer and the conductor."

Southworth said the NTSB would be looking into just about everything related to the crash.

"Track. Operations. How the trains are run, the rules," he said. "Mechanical, which includes the power, mode of power and equipment. Signal systems. Human performance."

At least 103 people were treated for injuries that were not life-threatening, officials said. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the worst injury was to a woman who may have suffered a broken leg.

Most of the injuries occurred when the train came to and abrupt stop and jolted passengers who had been standing as the train entered the station. The train was coming from Far Rockaway, Queens.

"Our mission is to understand not just what happened, but why it happened," Southworth said.

Mark Epstein, chair of the Long Island Rail Road Commuter Council, called the crash and others before it "troubling."

“While the injuries from this morning’s accident were limited in their severity, accidents that have involved LIRR trains over the past decade are troubling the Council and our fellow riders,” Epstein said in a statement. “There have been several serious incidents involving passenger rail terminals, where Positive Train Control will not be active.

Image via FDNY