Train Engineer ‘Was Nodding Off and Caught Himself Too Late,’ Union Rep Says (+video)

Photo Credit: CNN The engineer who was involved in Sunday’s New York train derailment apparently “was nodding off and caught himself too late” before the accident that killed four people and injured 67 others, a union representative who has been meeting with the man told CNN on Tuesday.

Anthony Bottalico, the union representative, said engineer William Rockefeller Jr. recognizes his responsibility in the incident.

“I think most people are leaning towards human error,” Bottalico said.

Rockefeller’s lawyer, Jeffrey Chartier, characterized what happened as “highway hypnosis.” He said his client had had a full night’s sleep before the crash, and that Rockefeller had no disciplinary record.

In a brief conversation with investigators, Rockefeller said that moments before the derailment of the Hudson Line train in the Bronx he was “going along and I’m in a daze. I don’t know what happened,” according to a law enforcement official familiar with that conversation.

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