Amfleet
Engineer
September 22, 2004 — John Stokes, the truck driver charged in connection to a fatal Amtrak train derailment five years ago, spoke to the media for the first time outside the Kankakee Courthouse, where he appeared for a sentencing hearing. Eleven people died when the train crashed in Bourbonnais on March 15, 1999. Stokes said the crash was not his fault.
Full article here."The engineer wasn't qualified to run that train. You found that out didn't you? He put it on emergency level and that dug up the ties. It wasn't hitting that or anything and then part of the problem was putting water on diesel fuel," said Stokes.