The AP is reporting that the MTA is now laying the blame on the engineer, without benefit of any investigation. They apparently took the word of a teenager who claimed he was text messaging the engineer shortly before the incident occurred.

Talk about a rush to judgement. In the same report blaming the engineer they, the MTA, also state that it will take up to a year to give a final report.

So within 24 hours they know it was their driver but it will take a year to sort out the details?

Pardon the expression but they've literally thrown their own employee under the bus.

In the same AP report, not a word from anyone from Santa Fe about blame.

Good work on the rescue efforts Mr. Kavanaugh.

Even it turns out to be operator error, would it have hurt the MTA's already battered public persona any worse to wait until even the most preliminary investigation was started before blaming the guy who died at the controls?

John E