 Many unionized subway workers went on strike against the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT), so the BRT assigned one of its office workers to be motorman on one train.This particular motorman had almost no training, instead of the usual 20 days minimum of training, and was recovering from the 1918 flu pandemic, which had just killed his daughter.During the rush hour, he made a series of bad mistakes, lost control on a downhill slope, and was racing at high speed when he crashed at a sharp curve outside of Prospect Park station.