Earlier this morning, train operator Domenick Occhiogrosso, 50, suffered a fatal heart attack "while guiding the train out of the Court Square station in Queens," reports City Room. The train stopped because of its "dead man's switch." The Post explains, "Once he released his grip from the handle on the control panel, the train stopped as if someone pulled the emergency brake. The train can’t move unless the handle is compressed. On newer cars, the motorman has to hold down a bar with his foot, and on the L line, the operator must press a button every 30 seconds."
With the train stopped, the conductor went to the lead car, found Occhiogrosso unconscious and then called for help. Occhiogrosso was pronounced dead at Elmhurst Hospital. NYC Transit says he joined NYCT in 1983 as a subway car cleaner and became a train operator in 1986.
