The operator of December's runaway Red Line train in Boston forgot to set the emergency brake and accepted full responsibility for the incident, according to a report released Tuesday.
"It was operator error, my fault," said David Vazquez, according to a written statement included in the MBTA's final report on the December incident. "The light was off in the cab I could not see the situation at hand. I forgot and misplaced what I had done after talking to the dispatcher."
The report confirms what necn has been reporting in the months following the incident: that Vazquez tampered with the throttle by tying a public address system microphone cord around it and failed to secure the brake.
That set the train in motion with no operator on board. The Red Line train from Braintree Station — with 50 passengers on board — traveled through four stations before coming to a stop. No one was injured.
The report also notes that Vazquez had 13 previous rule violations, five of them safety violations.
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Vazquez, 53, was fired in the days following the incident. Philip Gordon, his attorney, said Tuesday that he has not had a chance to review the report or talk with his client about whether he will have a response.
