Engineer in NYC train derailment awarded disability pension

NEW YORK (AP) — The attorney for an engineer who fell asleep at the controls of a New York City commuter train and caused a derailment that killed four people says his client has retired with a disability pension.

Attorney Danny Seymour told WCBS-AM on Friday that William Rockefeller was awarded the pension after a tribunal found he wasn’t capable of returning to work as a train engineer.

Rockefeller was at the helm of the Metro-North Railroad train when it derailed on Dec. 1, 2013, as he went around a curve in the Bronx at about 82 mph, injuring more than 70 people. The speed limit on the turn was 30 mph.

The National Transportation Safety Board later found Rockefeller suffered from an undiagnosed sleep disorder and had nodded off at the helm.