NTSB: NJ Transit locomotive's data recorder wasn't working

The locomotive on the New Jersey Transit train that crashed into the rail station in Hoboken, N.J., last week did not carry a functioning data recorder, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) announced yesterday.

The recorder was one of several equipment failures on the train, NTSB Vice Chair Bella Dinh-Zarr announced during a press conference.

Investigators will look for a second data recorder located in the front car, according to media reports. The investigators hope to determine the train's speed prior to impact.

Shortly after the accident occurred, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said it was believed that the train had been traveling at a high rate of speed. However, the train's engineer, who was interviewed by investigators over the weekend, said the train was traveling about 10 mph as it entered the station.

The data recorder was built in 1995. Dinh-Zarr's announcement followed an Associated Press report over the weekend that the Federal Railroad Administration investigators audited NJ Transit in June for an increasing number of safety violations as well as a lack of leadership at the agency's top.