Light rail train operator fired following last week's crash

BALTIMORE (AP) -- The Mass Transit Administration said Monday it fired the operator of a light rail train that crashed last week at Baltimore-Washington International Airport.

Dentis Thomas was driving the train August 15 when it failed to stop at the end of the line, plowing into a protective bumper. The collision lifted the front car off the tracks, injuring all 22 people aboard.

Thomas, 48, told MTA investigators he blacked out at the end of the final curve that approaches the station, about a quarter-mile from the airport stop.

He had returned to work the day before from a medical leave for a back condition, and told his supervisor he was taking prescription drugs as required under MTA policy, union officials said last week.

A urine test on Thomas showed he was not under the influence of illegal drugs. The results of blood and breath tests were still not available, agency spokesman Anthony Brown said.

The MTA said it was firing Thomas, a 26-year employee, as a "result of the severity of the accident." Brown declined to provide any additional comment.

The phone rang unanswered at the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1300, of which Thomas is a member.

The National Transportation Safety Board is continuing to investigate the crash, which a spokesman has called a "carbon copy" of a light rail crash at the airport six months earlier that injured 24 people.

The driver in that crash was also fired. He admitted using cocaine and a prescription painkiller before the accident and was charged with reckless endangerment, a misdemeanor.

Thomas had been fired in 1994 after testing positive for cocaine, but returned to his job after union officials intervened on his behalf, The Sun reported. He completed a drug rehabilitation program in 1997.

MTA Administrator Ron Freeland said last week that Thomas has been drug free since then.

Thomas had been involved in three other light rail accidents in the past year. He was cleared of blame in two of the incidents. He was disciplined for the third accident, a derailing which occurred July 7, 1999, with no passengers aboard.

Copyright 2000 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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