He was “hypnotized.”
The engineer at the controls of the speeding Metro-North train that killed four people in the Bronx when it derailed told investigators he felt stupefied from staring straight ahead just before the tragedy on Dec. 1.
“I don’t know if anybody’s ever experienced like driving a long period of time in a car and staring at the taillights in front of them,” said William Rockefeller, 46, in a transcript released Monday by the National Transportation Safety Board. “I came up with that hypnotized feeling, dazed, that’s what I was in.”
Rockefeller said that what took him out of the feeling of hypnosis was a sense that something was wrong with the train.
“The only thing that shook me out of it was the feeling of the train,” he told investigators. “Something wasn’t right with it, something, and that’s when I believe instinctly I had thrown it into emergency.”
When asked if he was cognizant to know he was in a curve, he said “apparently not.”
After the crash, Rockefeller said he was thrown around, but couldn’t remember if he was on the floor and got back up. He announced an emergency three times on his radio, but didn’t get an answer.
He tried to focus on caring for his assistant conductor Maria, who hurt her ribs and was struggling to talk.
NTSB investigators have determined that Rockefeller suffers from sleep apnea—a medical condition that causes an individual to repeatedly doze off during daylight hours due to brief periods of restrictive breathing, a law-enforcement source said.
A blood test also found he had small amounts of a sedating, over-the-counter antihistamine in his blood.
Rockefeller had .003 ug/ml of chlorpheniaramine in his blood. A full dose is .01 to .04, and can impair mental and physical ability.
He also regularly took heartburn medicine, and had taken aspirin during the derailment.
The new documents also show that Rockefeller bought coffee in Poughkeepsie before his shift, and had a safety briefing with his conductor, where they went over the speed limits on his route.
Rockefeller also powered off his cell phone, which engineers are forbidden to use.
The key question that investigators are still mulling is whether Rockefeller will be hit criminally with charges, which could include manslaughter, a law-enforcement source said.
“We don’t yet if he’s going to be charged,” the source said.
In his NTSB interview, Rockefeller expressed sympathy for the many responding medics, as well as for the crash victims and their families.
“It was just eerie, dark, and I just want to say that my heart goes out to everybody that was involved,” he said.