The Metro-North commuter train, which was traveling 82 miles-per-hour on a curve on Sunday morning, which killed four people and injured more than 60, USA Today reported.
Earl Weener, on behalf of the National Transportation Safety Board, said that initial data from the train's recording devices "revealed that its throttle went to idle just six seconds before the crash, and that maximum braking occurred only five seconds before," as reported by USA Today.
The speed zone approaching the curve in the Bronx is 70 mph, Weener also said.
The NTSB has yet to conclude why the train was traveling so fast, nor whether the accident had been caused by equipment failure or human error. There also did not appear to be any problems associated with the tracks or signals, the board said.
Investigators are "not aware of any prior problems or anomalies with the brakes," Weener said.
Investigators began interviewing the train's engineer William Rockefeller and three crew members. Rockefeller has worked for Metro-North for close to 20 years, and "has a good reputation," Senator Chuck Schumer said at the briefing.
"I don't know I was in a daze," when Rockefeller was asked about what happened, reported The New York Post.
"I don't know what I was thinking, and I just hit the brakes.," he added.
Twenty six of the injured, including two Metro-North employees, remain hospitalized on Monday, Metro-North spokesman Marjorie Anders said.
New Yorkers who usually took the Metro-North line had to switch to buses in order to get around the area of the derailment.
Officials said the accident is the second train derailment in six months for Metro North Railroad, but marks the first passenger death in its nearly 31-year history, USA Today also reported.
