Engineer was texting, NTSB says

The engineer of a Metrolink train that smashed into an oncoming freight train in Chatsworth last month sent 29 text messages from his cell phone while operating trains on the day of the crash - including one just 22 seconds before the deadly head-on collision, federal investigators said Wednesday. Sue Doyle in the Daily News.

The preliminary findings released by the National Transportation Safety Board - the federal agency overseeing the investigation - confirm what two 14-year-old train enthusiasts have claimed since the Sept. 12 tragedy: They were exchanging texts with Robert M. Sanchez, 46, moments before the collision that killed 25 people and injured 135.

But the theory that Sanchez, who died in the crash, was distracted by texting is just one of several being explored by investigators who also are considering possible mechanical failures and health problems to explain why the engineer blew past a red signal that day and never applied the brakes.