. >> reporter: tonight, the dead include the suv driver, 49-year-old ellen brody, 53-year-old eric vandercar, a father of two, and 69-year-old walter liedtke, a curator at the metropolitan museum of art. metro-north has been under serious scrutiny over the past few years because of several accidents. one accident killed four people just over a year ago. tonight, ntsb investigators are anxious to talk to the conductor and engineer. brian. >> tom costello at the scene of that crash for us tonight. tom, thanks. >>> now to the other major disaster we're covering. a commercial airliner crash in taiwan that was incredibly caught on dash cam video the whole way down. at least 31 people were killed when the transasia airways turbo twin engine prop went down. a dozen missing and feared dead. rescuers were able to save 15 people from the wreckage. we get the latest tonight from nbc's ian williams. >> reporter: the dramatic final moments captured by the dash cams of passing cars. the transasia twin prop plane clipping an elevated roadway before slamming into the river below. 58 passengers and crew trap

we've learned that one of the victims, eric vandercar, was a graduate of penn. investigators are now focusing on why that suv was stopped on the tracks. >>> this morning a former delaware county police officer is facing more troubles. two years after losing his job, lower merion police say when they pulled him over in october, he told them he was still a police officer. he's charged with impersonateing a public official. police fired him two times. the last time in 2013 after he tasered a teenager who was shackled to a bench in a holding cell. >>> in philadelphia a judge yesterday sentenced two former police officers for robbing drug dealers. jonathan garcia got more than 17 years in prison. his former partner, joanis got more than five years. garcia admitted to stealing cash and drugs from dealers, falsifying documents and selling heroin. >>> happening today, no electricity, no heat no water. that could be the case for the former revel casino hotel if it doesn't pay some overdue utility bills. revel's energy supplier is threatening to shut off those services by

eric vandercar was a bond trader. a family was preparing to identify his body. also cold was a man from connecticut. the national transportation safety board will examine the adequacy of the train's exits. passengers who survived described a quite chaotic scene. >> someone reacted quickly, broke the emergency exit window -- not window hatch, pulled the learner down helped pull the door down and we jumped out. and while it's impossible to predict what could happen in the event of a train accident rail experts say historically some parts of the train may be safer than others. >> sit in the aisle seat rather than the window seat and sit toward the middle of the car instead of the end of the car. >> now the railway says an average of 230 to 250 people are killed each year at highway railroad crossings and 90% can be blamed on driver risky behavior or poor judgment. anne-marie? >> thank you, don. >>> this morning we'll hear from a survivor whose quick actions helped his fellow passengers off the train. >>> the fbi is investigating a database breach at anthem. it cove

and we have learned that eric vandercar, penn graduate, was one of the victims. investigators are focusing on why the suv stopped on the tracks between the crossing gates. >>> federal officials will conduct safety inspections of washington, d.c. subway systems. this comes after last month's deadly incident. a woman was killed and more than 80 people injured when smoke filled a train inside a tunnel near a busy downtown station. those inspections will start in march. >>> activists want communities in the philadelphia area to pay attention to railroads and what's being done to prevent an emergency like a derailment. watchdog groups say they're now counting about 15 to 20 oil tanker trains per week passing through this region. the worst-case scenario for a derailment or crash could solve a serious explosion like ones that have happened in canada or north dakota. at a meeting last night safety advocates expressed their concerns. >> there's a lot of opportunity for action for community activists, making sure that our communities are protected. >> watchdogs say hundred

eric vandercar was a live music fan who worked as a bond trader. the body of joseph nadol is preparing for the identification of his body. also killed was 41-year-old aditya tomar of connecticut. they'll investigate the adequacy of the train's exits. passengers who survived described a quite chaotic scene. >> someone reacted quickly, broke the emergency exit window -- not window, hatch, pulled the lever down helped pull the door down and we jumped out. and while it's impossible to predict what could happen in the event of a train accident, rail experts say historically some parts of the train may be safer than others. >> sit in the aisle seat rather than the window seat and sit toward the middle of the car instead of the end of the car. >> now, the railway says an average of 230 to 250 people are killed each year at highway grade railroad crossings and 94% of those cases can be blamed on risky driver behavior or poor judgment. anne-marie? >> don champion here in new york. thank you, don. >>> well coming up on "cbs this morning" this morning, we'll

also remembered today eric vandercar. meanwhile investigators again were collecting evidence in the burned out remains of the train car where five passengers died. nationwide there are 2,000 accidents at railroad crossings each year. last year 239 people died. many of the crossings date back 50 years or more. >> in a country that can put a man on the moon, we can design better grade crossings that save lives and prevent this kind of crash. >> reporter: tonight the ntsb says mrs. brody was indeed driving on a road that was not her normal route because of a car accident that sent cars detouring around it. meanwhile investigators are also looking at the cell phone records for mrs. brody and the engineer. that's standard part of any investigation. they want to make sure distraction didn't play any role. brian? >> tom costello still on the story, thanks. >>> as we all saw on video this week it took just seconds after takeoff for that transasia flight to run into trouble in taiwan. less than three minutes for it to end in disas

walter liedtke, a curator of european paintings at the metropolitan museum of art. 53-year-old eric vandercar who worked at a financial firm. 42-year-old joseph nadol and -- aditya tomor. and robert dirks a chemical scientist with a wife and two children. his father -- michael. >> all a father could ever want, a father and a mother. and having had him in my life for 36 years it was great absolutely great joy. >> reporter: meanwhile, the ntsb says this investigation could take months. but today they did also tell us that they are looking at the possibility and, in fact they've now determined that not only were the railroad crossing signals working properly but so was a traffic intersection light nearby. brian. >> what a tragedy. tom costello, valhalla, new york for us tonight. tom, thanks. >>> overseas search and recovery teams remain on the scene of that transasia airways crash in taiwan. 11 people are still missing presumed dead after that twin engine turbo prop fell out of the sky minutes after takeoff in taipei clipping the highway overpass, plunging into the river. the official death toll

. >> reporter: the dead include the suv driver, 49-year-old ellen brody, eric vandercar, and 69-year-oldalter liedtke, a curator at a museum. >>> the other victim we are learning about is robert dirks. he was a married father of two and a research scientist. and also joseph nadal were killed in the crash. both were employees of j.p. morgan. >>> now the other major disaster story we have been following overnight. this dealing with the death toll from yesterday's plane crash in taiwan. that now stands at 31. 15 people have been hospitalized and another 12 are still missing missing. search efforts are continuing but are being hampered by zero visibility in the water. as you can see here, look at this. cameras on a dashboard of a car capturing the image of the plane as it clipped the side of the bridge as it goes into the water. here we have the video of the rescue teams clinging to one of the youngest victims, a baby being pulled out there. the pilot is being credited for likely saving more lives by steering the plane away from populated areas and the highrise buildings, both the taiwan bui

the crash killed six people tuesday night, and we have learned that eric vandercar, a penn graduate wasne of the victims. investigators are focusing on why the suv stopped on the tracks between the crossing gates. and the new york crash is renewing concerns about train traffic in and around the philadelphia area. >> yeah some activists are saying that communities need to be informed in case something happens. watchdog groups say they're now counting about 15 to 20 oil tanker trains per week passing through this region. the worst-case scenario for a derailment or crash may involve serious explosions like ones that have happened in canada and north dakota. at a meeting last night, safety advocates expressed concerns and laid out what could be done to prevent a dangerous situation. >> there's a lot of opportunities for action for community members to make whether it's holding our governments accountable, making sure that companies are being held accountable and making sure our communities are protected. >> watchdogs say hundreds of thousands of people across the region live in the potentia

metropolitan of air and eric vandercar and eric dirks, a research scientist with a wife and two young children. we spoke to his father overnight. >> all a father could ever want and having had him in my life for 36 years, it was great, absolutely great joy. >> reporter: ntsb is hoping to interview the conductor and engineer as soon as possible. at this point there is no suggestion that the crew members on the train were in any way responsible for this crash, and as you probably know the metro north train line on the harlem line reopened today for full service, although operating with some delays. larry mann joins us now, an attorney and leading author of the federal railroad safety act back in 1979. thanks for joining us. >> good morning. >> i'm sure you heard the ntsb doesn't believe the crew did anything wrong but there were questions about the rails and why the rail was yanked out of ground. what do you think are the key questions? >> first of all, hopefully this will be a wake-up call to the whole country. it's disheartening that nothing has been done for many years when everyone

also killed eric vandercar, the financial firm he worked for said vandercar was not only a pillar inustry he was a great partner and a friend to many. >> that was tom costello for nbc reporting. full train service resumed this morning on the harlem line. the ntsb expected to continue its investigation on site for another five to six days. >>> leaders in japan hope a new robot will help them determine how seriously three nuclear reactors were damaged. the reactors suffered a meltdown in 2011 following the earthquake and tsunami. since then experts have not been able to find out what is at the bottom of the debris pile. the new robot will safely access the area collect images showing the damage and measure things like temperature and radiation levels. >>> and the national prayer breakfast brought thousands of people together in washington this morning. the president and the first lady michelle obama, joined 3600 u.s. and international leaders at the washington hilton. the dalai lama was there, and the annual event brings thousands of people together from different parties and religions

were killed including walter liedtke, a curator at the metropolitan museum of art, 53-year-old eric vandercar and 36-year-old robert dirks, a research scientist with a wife and two young children. his father spoke overnight. >> all a father could ever want and had him in my life for 36 years, it was a great -- absolutely great joy. >> reporter: agents have located data recorders from the train and crossing signal. the on-site investigation is expected to continue through least the end of this week. jay gray, nbc news. >>> a connecticut man may have cheated death twice after the metro north commuter train accident. this is fred bonnacourt. today is his first day using the train since tuesday but not the first time he survived a deadly tragedy. he was across the street when the bombs went off at the boston marathon in 2013. as far as tuesday's crash is concerned, he realizes he could have been one of the victims. >> i sit generally in the first car every day on the way home. everyone just needs to take away the message that like don't take things for granted. don't take any given day or people

extraordinary colleague with tireless team support and eric vandercar was senior managing director ofau financial and thoughts are with all of their families tonight. just ahead, the latest on the aaron hernandez murder trial and the trip the family took today and a dangerous mud slide in washington leads to flooding and evacuations and the 9-1-1 call. unbelievable. it sparked an investigation. father struck in a hit-and-run. teenage daughter called for help and the operator told her to stop whining. details ahead. switch to t-mobile. get 2 lines of unlimited 4g lte data for just $100 bucks a month. it's america's best unlimited family plan. and it's only at t-mobile. [ female announcer ] we help make secure financial tomorrows a reality for over 19 million people. [ susan ] my promotion allowed me to start investing for my retirement. transamerica made it easy. [ female announcer ] everyone has a moment when tomorrow becomes real. transamerica. transform tomorrow. i've been called a control freak... i like to think of myself as more of a control... enthusiast. mmm, a perfect 177-degr

the crash killed six people tuesday night, and we have learned that eric vandercar, a penn graduate, was one of the victims. investigators are focusing on why the suv stopped on the tracks between the crossing gates. >> yeah, some activists are saying that communities need to be informed in case something happens. watchdog groups say they're now counting about 15 to 20 oil tanker trains per week passing through this region. the worst-case scenario for a derailment or crash may involve serious explosions like ones that have happened in canada and north dakota. at a meeting last night, safety advocates expressed their concerns. >> there's a lot of opportunities for action for community members to make, whether it's holding our governments accountable, making sure that companies are being held accountable and making sure our communities are protected. >> watchdogs say hundreds of thousands of people across the region live in the potential impact zone for an oil train incident. industry leaders have said that safety needs to be a top priority. >>> investigators are looking into that dead

among them eric vandercar and walter liedtke. and so did ellen brody in her suv. drove out on to the tracks and couldn't get away still a mystery. brody's husband posting on facebook a thanks for everyone who has expressed their condolences to their family and they plan to say a final good-bye to his wife on friday. linzie davis, abc news valhalla, new york. >>> investigators are equal waiting the black box from the plane in that crash. the search for 12 people continues in the river where the plane went down. it crashed after initially gaining altitude but not enough speed less than three minutes after takeoff. >> an airliner of any size is a metallic egg shell. when used as designed it is very strong. in you smack a bridge with it will come apart and do terrible damage to anyone in the back of the plane. >> among the 15 survivors is a family of three including a premature baby who was brought back to life by cpr. >>> bipartisan support is boosting aid to jordan. the u.s. had announced plans to increase aid to jordan to $1 billion. the senate armed services commi

the five others include 65-year-old walter liedke 60-year-old eric vandercar, robert dirks, jonah doll and aditya aditya tomar. investigateors say ellen brody may have been the only victim. >> some were able to help others who were trapped or shaken up. vinita nair spoke with one who was described as a hero. >> good morning. james wallace has been making the commute regularly for years. he was sitting in the second car tuesday when he said he felt the jerk. >> people started panicking, were starting to run back toward the back of the second car. there was a tremendous amount of billowing smoke coming through at that point. we could see shapes moving around in the smoke so we wanted very much to get in there to help people. >> wallace, a former ambulance corps member searched throughout the train calling for passengers. >> i wanted to get to a woman who was panicked. i said you have to stay calm. >> what did she say. >> sometimes you see panic. she had that in her eyes. >> reporter: it took a team of them to open the emergency door. >> we started to smell gasoline fumes and the fire was

. >> reporter: the dead include the suv driver 49-year-old ellen brodie 53-year-old eric vandercar, a father of two, and 69-year-old walter lidtke a cure rater at the metropolitan museum of art. >> reporter: metropolitan has been under scrutiny in the series of years for accidents. now the ntsb is looking forward to interviewing both the engineer and the conductor on what they saw on tuesday night. >> tom, thank you. another victim we are learning more about this morning. 36-year-old robert durks. he was a married father of two and research scientist. 41-year-old of danbury, connecticut, and 42-year-old joseph natov of new york were also killed in the crash. both were employees of jp morgan. it's just an incredibly horrific story and perplexing what happened. >> it really is perplexing. this train just cuts right through where we all live. >> oh, no it's also right near -- >> in the community, so many people. >> there's a hospital right there, where they went. the westchester medical center with so many injured. i know it well. >> you drive through this year and have you had -- i know