The Metro train operator who survived last year’s horrific Red Line crash had an employment record riddled with suspensions and reprimands and a history of neglecting Metro safety protocol.
Brian Brooks was at the controls of train 214 when another train pummeled into it from behind between the Fort Totten and Takoma stations, leaving nine dead and dozens more wounded. An investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board cited a faulty track circuit as the primary culprit.
Brooks was operating his train manually at the time of the accident, in violation of Metro’s safety protocol, the NTSB report said.
Metro’s safety guidelines instructed train operators to use the automatic operating mode when transporting passengers, but Brooks refused to follow the safety guideline “on numerous occasions,” according to the NTSB report.
Since the crash, Metro has ordered all of its operators to use manual mode, and the safety board does not cite Brooks’ actions among the crash’s primary causes. But the NTSB report says Brooks’ train may have been less likely to stop “completely within” the range of the faulty track circuit if it had been in automatic mode.
Metro supervisors removed Brooks from duty three times in August 2008 for failing to stop his train at the appropriate position along station platforms, according to the safety board’s report. In each case, Brooks took manual control of his train rather than relying on the system’s automatic mode.
He told his supervisors he was entitled to operate the train in manual mode because Metro’s guidelines allow train operators “the ultimate and final responsibility for the safety of the passengers.”
The provision was intended to give operators the ability to make personal judgments during “unusual circumstances” when passenger safety is at stake, but otherwise they are to follow all guidelines, according to the NTSB’s report.
Brooks also received three reprimands and two suspensions between 2003 and the June 2009 accident.
He was suspended in 2004 for blowing through a red light signal, and again in 2006 for an “improper coupling” maneuver that damaged Metro equipment, according to the NTSB report, which sites Metro employee records.
Metro spokesman Reggie Woodruff said Brooks is on paid leave for injuries related to the crash.
