Investigators found no problems with equipment involved in a fatal subway crash, leaving the focus on the train's operator, who admitted he had been drinking and was dozing at the controls of the speeding train.
Motorman Robert Ray, 38, was arraigned Thursday on five counts of second-degree manslaughter in the crash early Wednesday that killed five people and injured 145 when his subway train jumped the tracks near a station in lower Manhattan. He was ordered held without bail.According to a criminal complaint filed in court Thursday, Ray told police he "consumed alcohol prior to his operation of said train and was falling asleep" before the crash.
Tests after the crash revealed Ray's blood-alcohol level was .21. Under New York law, the driver of a car is considered legally drunk if his blood-alcohol level exceeds .10. He had no illegal drugs in his system, the tests showed.
National Transportation Safety Board investigators, who completed an on-site investigation of the crash Thursday, said there was no indication that an equipment failure or maintenance problem caused the crash.
David Beerram, the train's conductor, told police it was traveling "far in excess of a safe speed," a complaint prepared by police Detective William Barger said. But John K. Lauber, the NTSB official heading the investigation, said there was no evidence that he tried to apply the brakes.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority said Thursday it would begin random, surprise drug and alcohol tests of subway operators as a result of the crash.