SUV driver in Metro-North crash identified as 49-year-old married mother of three who works in jewelry shop
Six people died in the fiery wreck after the train hit the Mercedes SUV being driven by Ellen Brody, 49. Passengers Eric Vandercar, 53, of Bedford Hills, and Walter Liedtke, a curator with the Metropolitan Musuem of Art, were also believed killed in the crash.
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Published: Wednesday, February 4, 2015, 8:05 AM
Updated: Wednesday, February 4, 2015, 4:07 PM
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FACEBOOKEllen Brody was identified as the driver of the SUV that was struck by the train Tuesday night.
The woman killed behind the wheel of her Mercedes in a gruesome wreck with a Metro-North commuter train was identified Wednesday as the married mother of three kids.
Ellen Brody, 49, was headed home from her job at a Chappaqua jewelry design shop Tuesday evening when she died in the fiery 6:30 p.m. crash at a Westchester County railroad crossing, The Journal News reported.
The Edgemont woman’s car was first struck Tuesday evening by a gate at the intersection with the Metro-North tracks, and she stepped outside to check for damage, a source said.
“She got back in her car and for whatever reason went forward a little bit,” the source said. “The train would have missed her by a good 6 or 7 feet.”
Neither Brody nor the train’s engineer was able to do anything in the seconds before impact to stop the crash that killed five commuters riding in the train’s quiet car.
Brody and her husband Alan, a South African native, were longtime residents of Edgemont. The couple, described as a prominent and active local family, had two daughters and a son.
The SUV driver was one of three victims identified after all six victims were burned beyond recognition. Passengers Eric Vandercar, 53, of Bedford Hills, and Walter Liedtke, a curator with the Metropolitan Musuem of Art, were also believed killed in the crash.
It may take another full day to positively identify the three remaining male passengers killed in the fiery crash at a Westchester County railroad crossing, officials said.
“All the bodies are thoroughly burned,” said county executive Rob Astorino shortly after federal investigators arrived looking for answers in the horrific Tuesday evening tragedy.
One patient remained in critical condition at the Westchester Medical Center, with another listed in serious condition, authorities said.
Six more victims were in good or fair condition, while four were treated and released, said Patricia Wrobbel, the hospital’s chief nursing executive.
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Federal investigators arrived Wednesday at the gruesome crash scene to start their probe of the rush-hour wreck between a stopped Mercedes Benz SUV and a Metro-North train doing 60 mph.
“Our intent is to find out not only what happened, but why it happened,” said National Transportation Safety Board member Robert Sunwalt.
A full 400 feet of track and the electrified third rail was torn up before the train and the vehicle screeched to a stop, said Astorino.
A source indicated that some of the dead passengers were sliced by the rail when it tore through the bottom of the train “like it was cutting through butter ... They didn’t have a chance to even try and escape.”
All five were sitting on the same side of the train, the source said. Five separate pieces of rail pierced the train at different points, stretching across the first three cars, according to the source.
One commuter who escaped from the train’s last car said the flames were so intense that the windows were melting despite the freezing temperatures.
“As soon as we got out, you could see the smoke and see the fire,” said Michael Hinck, an 11-year commuting veteran. “Once they got the fire out, the smoke was just black.”
A source said the force of the crash wiped out a wooden shed alongside the tracks, and the third rail was driven through the bottom of the train car “like it was cutting through butter,” a source said.
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RICHARD HARBUS FOR NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
A plume of smoke rises as front of the Metro-North train burns late Tuesday (left). Firefighers work on the scene (right) after the fiery crash caused by an SUV trying to cross the tracks.
The train’s engineer managed to slam on the brakes after spying the stranded car, but it was too late to avoid the massive collision, said Valhalla Fire Department Chief Roger King.
“He saw the car well ahead of the crossing and immediately locked the brakes,” King said. “But a train going 60 mph doesn’t stop on a dime. In an instant, he was seeing flames and smoke filling the train car.”
The hunk of rail that tore through the train barely missed the engineer, who helped several passengers escape the flaming wreck.
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“He was really on top of his game,” said King. “His life was in danger, too.”
Fifteen people were injured in the wreck that sent a fireball into the sky and through the first car of the train.
“It appears that the gasoline tank burst and that started the fire, consumed the (SUV) and consuming the first car of the first train,” Cuomo said on “CBS This Morning.”
The scene of the deadliest crash in Metro-North history was “as gruesome as I have seen,” the governor said. The entire first car, including all the seats, was burned or charred.
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“It’s total devastation,” said one source who spoke with first responders. “The entire length of the interior is burned.”
The NTSB dispatched an “interdisciplinary team” to examine various factors, including the signaling system at the crossing and how the train was being operated — including the rate of speed, said spokesman Eric Weiss said.
Rail investigator Michael Hiller is leading the team as investigator in charge, with Sumwalt accompanying the team from Washington.
“We cast a very large net and try to gather all factual information,” Sumwalt said. “Everything is on the table.”
THEODORE PARISIENNE/FOR NEW YORK DAILY NEWSWestchester County Executive Rob Astorino said he was ‘amazed that anyone got off that train alive ... ‘It must have been pure panic, with the flames, the third rail and the smoke.’
Cuomo, on the CBS-TV morning show, said it was too soon to start pointing fingers.
“Sometimes there are just accidents,” he said. “Sometimes people just get themselves in bad situations. So I think it’s too soon to say what’s to blame or who’s to blame.”
The NTSB team will stay on the scene for five to seven days, but a full investigation will take about a year. They had already recovered several key recording devices that will provide them with the train speed and other important details.
According to witnesses, the woman driving the Mercedes Benz SUV drove on the tracks at the railroad crossing — and then stopped when one of the gates came down and struck her vehicle.
JOE MARINO/NEW YORK DAILY NEWSA scene from the sky of the tragic crash.
She stepped out to check on the Mercedes, but climbed back in the car as the train barreled down the tracks at about 6:30 p.m. Tuesday near Valhalla. She couldn’t move the SUV before the horrifying crash that was so violent that the electrified third rail tore through the bottom of the charred rail car.
“I am amazed that anyone got off that train alive,” said Astorino. “It must have been pure panic, with the flames, the third rail and the smoke.”
The wreck occurred about 45 minutes after the northbound train left Grand Central Terminal at 5:45 p.m., with an estimated 650 people aboard. The flaming SUV was driven about 400 feet down the track before screeching to a halt.
The passengers fled the burning train before authorities arrived.
The previous worst Metro-North wreck killed four passengers in December 2013 when a commuter train derailed in the Bronx. That train took a dangerously sharp curve at nearly three times the 30 mph limit and jumped the track.
