Harlem Line Tragedy: Engineer Credited With Saving Lives

Engineer Steven Smalls of Orange County, at the helm of the Metro North train that collided with a car Feb. 3 was credited by Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino with working to get injured passengers out before he was overcome by smoke.

The 8-car commuter express smashed into a Mercedes SUV on the tracks at a grade crossing in Mount Pleasant.

“Metal wheels on metal rails and the rest is up to the laws of physics,” said NJ Burkett, reporting for WABC-TV.

The 6:30 p.m. crash killed six—the deadliest in Metro North’s history.

Robert Sumwalt of the National Transportation Safety Board said yesterday that arrangements were being made to interview the engineer and conductor as part of the NTSB’s probe into the causes of the accident.

“We hope to get that done tomorrow or the next day,” he said at a 5 p.m. briefing Feb. 4. ”These folks have been through a very traumatic event; we want to make sure they’re ready.”

Astorino said the engineer did what he could do to save people before the first car was fully engulfed in fire.

”When you can’t see and you can’t breathe and there are flames, you have to get out, that’s what he had to do,” he said.

Smalls, 32, has worked for the railroad for three years and became an engineer nine months ago, Jeffrey Chartier, Smalls’ lawyer, told The Journal News, which also interviewed union official Anthony Bottalico of the Association of Commuter Rail Employees about Smalls’ efforts that night.

HARLEM LINE TRAGEDY:

• Bedford Resident Eric Vandercar Among Victims
• Bedford Hills Resident Walter Liedtke Among Victims in Metro North Tragedy
• Edgemont Resident Ellen Brody Among Victims in Metro North Tragedy
• Update: Last Three Victims ID’d in Deadly Feb. 3 Crash
• Chaos, Sadness and Prayers: A Commuter’s Train Ride When Tragedy Struck
• Metro-North Harlem Line Tragedy: Timeline; Feds Collecting Evidence
• What You Need to Know if You Take Metro-North
• On Twitter: News and Reaction to the Harlem Line Tragedy
• Tough Weather Conditions for Train Accident Investigation

IMAGE: screenshot/WABC-TV