National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigators looking into Thursday’s crash of the New Jersey commuter train ran into a roadblock while attempting to retrieve the event recorder and camera from the controlling cab. When the train struck the Hoboken Terminal, the incident exposed asbestos in the historic building. The asbestos – in addition to extensive debris -- will have to be safely removed before the train’s “black box” can be accessed and examined.

Engineer: "I can't remember"

However, the accident train engineer has been interviewed. While the NTSB says no interview summaries will be provided until all interviews are completed, news sources are reporting that the engineer has no memory of the fatal train crash.

The NTSB has been able to obtain video from other trains that were at the Hoboken Terminal, to see what those cameras captured from the accident event. The event recorder from the trailing locomotive #4214 has arrived at the recorder manufacturer’s facility in Kentucky and NTSB personnel are supervising the attempted download.

Walking inspection turns up nothing

Investigators successfully completed the walking inspection of the track and found nothing that would have affected the performance of the train.

There were no signal anomalies found on the tracks leading to the terminal.  A full signal study cannot yet be completed because the accident train remains in the terminal.