NTSB investigates tragic Valhalla train crash

VALHALLA — National Transportation Safety Board investigators spent Wednesday poring over the train-SUV crash scene where six people died and 15 were injured Tuesday.

"We do have grade crossing accidents, and most of the time it's fatal for occupants of the vehicles and not for train passengers," NTSB board member Robert Sumwalt told reporters Wednesday. "We intend to find out what makes this accident different."

He said the agency was focused on two questions: "Why was the car on the train tracks and what caused this accident to be fatal for occupants of the train?"

U.S. Sen Charles Schumer said in a phone conference Wednesday afternoon that the train was traveling 58 miles an hour, which is within the 60 mph speed limit for that stretch of tracks.

He said it was, "too early to point fingers, but we must get the bottom of this.''

Sumwalt said at a late-afternoon briefing that the NTSB was not confirming that speed figure pending further analysis. He said one of the train's event recorders "has been downloaded here on site" successfully and the other was shipped back to NTSB headquarters for analysis.

He said the investigation will include experts in fire science, signals, and crossings, to name a few. The team will review events recorders that monitor the Metro-North train's speed and brakes. They will also have access to video from the crossing and will review the crossing itself to ensure it meets federal standards.

"We will be documenting the wreckage," he said. "We have already asked for aerial footage." Members will be using special 3-D laser scanning devices to take images of the train and also attempting to get any available data from the SUV.

A "high priority" for investigators will be talking to the train engineer, conductor and crew, Sumwalt said. He expects those interviews to take place Thursday or Friday.

"The people who operate the train have been through a lot of trauma," he said. "We have to wait until they are in a condition when they can talk to us."

They are focused on collecting "perishable evidence," which includes witness memories, he said. The NTSB asks anyone who saw the events leading up to the crash to email Witness@ntsb.gov.

The train wreck will be moved to an indoor facility where it can be preserved. Investigators are also securing recording devices from both the train and the crossing gate signals.

"At the end of this process we will know everything we need to know," Sumwalt said.

The dozen NTSB investigators expect to be on the scene for the next five to seven days.

A devastating collision

Retired NTSB investigator Russell Quimby told The Journal News that a combination of an electrical spark from the third rail and the car's gasoline likely led to the powerful explosion.

"If you have some vapor of the gas tank that ruptured and the electrical spark ignites it, you would have an explosive effect," he said.

He also noted that the third rail, which supplies the electric power to the train, is not designed to withstand such impact, especially from big car parts like the engine and axles. Officials have said the rail broke and sliced through the first car.

Could the engineer have avoided the collision? Probably not, Quimby said.

"It's going to take up two or three seconds for an engineer to see (the car) and react," he said. "Timing is everything, and depending on what movements she made, he might not have had any time."

A 'horrific scene'

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority said the driver of the car and five people on board the train were killed. The driver was identified Wednesday as Ellen Brody of Edgemont. Two of the passengers killed were identified as Eric Vandecar of Bedford and Walter Liedtke of Bedford Hills.

Most of those injured were taken to Valhalla's Westchester Medical Center. At a briefing early Wednesday afternoon, officials there said they were prepared for up to 100 casualties but ultimately treated 12 patients. Nine of those were trauma patients — five with the most serious, or "level 1," injuries. Three of the most seriously hurt were burn victims.

Four were discharged overnight. Of the remaining patients, one was in critical condition, one in serious condition, four in fair condition, and two in good condition. At least one patient was taken to Phelps Memorial Hospital in Sleepy Hollow.

"It was a horrific scene," Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino said Wednesday morning at the crash scene. "The inside of the car was melted and charred with the third rail going through it."

He said the medical examiner was in the process of identifying the victims.

He described a heroic effort by the train's engineer, who survived the crash.

"He was trying to rescue people but at some point there was so much smoke and so many flames, he had to escape."

"The investigation, at this point, all indications, at least from the MTA, is that it was not a problem with their tracks or anything," Astorino said. "It was human error, but that is part of the investigation."

The county executive said the state Department of Transportation needs to look at all intersections and railroad crossings near the crash scene, noting that the area's narrow roads frequently lead to major jams during rush hour. He also said the turns onto the Taconic Parkway can be confusing near the railroad crossings.

The county is providing extra buses to transport riders around the section of the Harlem Line where service is suspended — from Pleasantville to North White Plains.

How it happened

The fiery scene began to unfold about 6:30 p.m. when the Harlem Line train out of Grand Central Terminal struck the black Mercedes-Benz SUV at the narrow, two-lane Commerce Street crossing, causing an explosion that engulfed both the car and the train.

"The gates came down on top of the vehicle, which was stopped on the tracks," Aaron Donovan, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said in a statement. "The driver got out to look at the rear of the car, then she got back in and drove forward and was struck."

A driver stopped directly behind the SUV said he started to back up to give the vehicle's driver room but instead she pulled forward.

Rick Hope said the crossing signals were working properly at the Valhalla gate Tuesday and he watched as the gate hit Brody's car and she stepped out to see what had happened. He tried to motion for her to back up.

"Why?" he asked. "Why did she get back into her car? Why didn't she back up? I'll never know the answers."

Donovan said the force from the impact pushed the Mercedes-Benz about 10 train car lengths north of the crossing. Sumwalt, of the NTSB, said the impact moved the vehicle 1,000 feet down the tracks. For about 400 feet, he said, the third rail was shoved into and breaking apart into the first rail car, "but at least one piece penetrated into the second rail car."

At the scene late Tuesday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo called the crash a "truly ugly and brutal sight."

"When you look at the damage done, and the damage by the fire, it's actually amazing that not more people were hurt on that train," he said, crediting the work of first responders.

Cuomo told WCBS Newsradio 880 Wednesday morning that the accident scene was the most gruesome thing he had ever seen.

Train car filled with smoke

The 5:44 p.m. northbound express train out of Grand Central Terminal had been expected to make its first stop at Chappaqua.

Bruno Maiolo of Ridgefield, Connecticut, was a passenger in the rear of the first train car.

Maiolo said he was on his iPhone when he heard a "big bang, jolt … it was obvious that we hit something, and then we eventually came to a stop."

He said the car was heavily damaged, especially toward the front, and filled with smoke "pretty quick."

"There was smoke, there was fire, there (were) people on the ground and what we tried to do was open the back door – it would not open – and so we took the window, the emergency window, we ripped it out, we started getting people out … helping people come down, because it was a big drop," Maiolo said.

He said they turned around and saw the SUV in flames at the front.

"As people were getting off we were just moving away because it looked like it was just going to explode … It was in flames (and) eventually it exploded."

Those who escaped were telling passengers in the second and third cars to evacuate, he said.

"I just feel guilty quite frankly that I got out and … I don't think everyone did," he said.

Alex Bernier, 26, of Mahopac was aboard the train when the crash occurred and said he felt the jolt as the train came to an extremely abrupt stop.

"My first thought was that it was a signal error. There was a bit of confusion on the train. We all kind of shuffled to the back," he said. "People just started opening windows (to get out)."

Bernier said the conductor made an announcement moments later, informing the passengers that a passenger car had been struck.

About 400 riders — the "walking wounded" and those who were unharmed — were evacuated through the rear train car and taken to The Cliffs at Valhalla, a nearby sports club.

Commuters cope

The tragedy left some commuters shaken. Devin Smith of Somers, was headed to Grand Central Wednesday morning from North White Plains with fellow commuter Claire Meenagh, also of Somers. Smith said the 5:44, the train involved, "is one of our trains home."

"It's definitely a little nerve-wracking," she said.

Buses were brought in to bridge the gap in service between North White Plains and Pleasantville. Normal train service was continuing between Grand Central and North White Plains, and shuttle trains were operating north of Pleasantville.

Mary Ellen Linnehan was waiting Wednesday in Chappaqua for a southbound train, which would stop in Pleasantville where riders would switch to a bus, then catch another train.

"I am traumatized," said Linnehan, an attorney who takes the train a few times a week. "I'm not taking the front car again."

The Taconic State Parkway southbound remained closed Wednesday afternooon between Lakeview and West Stephens avenues. The northbound side of the road was reopened by 1 p.m.

The MTA said the train cars will not be removed until a full investigation is completed. Regular train service won't resume until the tracks are inspected and any necessary repairs are made.

Tragedy felt through Valhalla

In the crush of the lunch-hour crowd of Valhalla's Deli on Broadway, owner Alex Athanasatos recalled his brush with disaster.

On Tuesday night, he was travelling in the line of cars behind the vehicle that wound up on the tracks and caused the explosive collision.

one of the cars — the third or fourth, he believes — behind the black Mercedes-Benz SUV at the Commerce Street crossing when the Metro-North collision occurred.

"I was sitting there waiting, waiting," Athanasatos said over the counter between orders of wild rice soup and the Reuben sandwich. "I was utterly oblivious, not paying any attention. Like, 'Damn! This must be a big car accident.'"

"I saw smoke up ahead, still thinking 'car accident,'" he added as a handful of customers whistled and shook their heads. "Then the fire truck comes and people started backing up, doing U-turns."

Valhalla, named after the heaven of Norse mythology, is blessed with a picture-postcard downtown.

But on Wednesday, unease pervaded the town as 24-hour newscasts hammered home the size and scale of the disaster.

Staff reporters Jon Bandler, Rich Liebson, Jane Lerner, Alex Taylor, Brian Tumulty and Thane Grauel, as well as USA Today and The Associated Press, contributed to this report.