LOOKING FOR CAUSES

Report: Engineer in NJ Transit Crash Had Undiagnosed Sleep Apnea

Investigators considering possibility of causation.

According to two U.S. officials, the engineer of the New Jersey Transit commuter train that crashed into the Hoboken station and killed one woman suffered from undiagnosed sleep apnea. Investigators are currently looking into the disorder as a possible cause for Thomas Gallagher, 48, driving the train into the station at double the 10-mph speed limit. Gallagher was diagnosed with the condition following the September 29 crash—an accident which he has stated he does not remember but recalled waking up on the floor. The sole fatality of the crash, Fabiola Bittar de Kroon, 34, had recently moved to New Jersey from Brazil with her husband and daughter. She was reportedly killed when debris from the station struck her during the crash.