According to the final report on an MBTA incident that happened in December, the operator of a "runaway" Red Line train wrapped a cord around the throttle.
The report said operator David Vasquez set the cineston control handle to full propulsion mode and inhibited the "dead man" feature by wrapping the public announcement microphone cord around the control dial, wedging the cord between the handle and the base plate indicator.
According to the report, the MBTA Operations Control Center was alerted to the fact that a train was moving northbound with no operator onboard around 6:08 a.m. on Dec. 10.
Dispatchers cut power to the track between Braintree Station and North Quincy Station to disable the train. After losing power, the train coasted to a stop just north of North Quincy Station, after having traveled 5.5 miles from Braintree Station.
Around 6:04 a.m., Vazquez requested permission to activate emergency bypass on the train in order to travel past the Braintree crossover, which is about 300 feet north of Braintree Station. The crossover had experienced a signal problem that resulted in a "stop and stay," code, preventing the train from traveling further.
Vazquez exited the front door of the train’s cab to access the emergency bypass switch, which was located on the front exterior of the train. Vazquez did not remove the microphone cord that inhibited the "dead man" feature, nor did he set the hand brake, as required by procedure, the report said.
As Vazquez activated the emergency bypass switch, the unattended train accelerated to 25 miles per hour, as the cineston was set to the full power position.
Vazquez suffered a laceration to his right leg while attempting to avoid the train. He went back to the Braintree Station Chief Inspector’s Office and notified the Chief Inspector that the train was moving without and operator.
Vazquez is a 25-year veteran with the MBTA. He was first hired in March 1987. He worked on the Blue Line until 1991, when he resigned. He was rehired to work on the Red Line on 1994 and continued on the Red Line until this incident.
Vazquez has 13 past rule violations, including five safety violations.
Vazuez gave a statement on Dec. 10 about the incident:
"At the time I was putting on my gloves with the mike [sic] cord on top of the cynister [sic] handled wedged… It was operator error, my fault. 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."
MBTA management reviewed the incident and determined Vazquez violated multiple MBTA rules and procedures, including knowledge of rules, attention to duty, safety of customers and MBTA property, use of emergency bypass, securing of trains and speed and restrictions.
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