BALTIMORE _ The school bus driver involved in Tuesday's deadly crash didn't have a valid commercial driver's license.
Glenn Chappell, driver of the school bus that was involved in an accident Tuesday that killed him and five other people, had recently been barred from driving commercial vehicles because he failed to provide authorities with a certificate that he was in good health.
His commercial driving privileges were revoked Sept. 1, a spokesman for the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration said. Officials had warned Chappell twice, in July and again Sept. 8, that he needed to provide a new medical certificate by the end of August or else risked losing all driving privileges.
Commercial driver's licenses, plus an extra level of licensure specific to transporting schoolchildren, are required to drive school buses, according to MVA. Chappell held that additional level of licensure, the agency said.
Federal regulations require employers to hold medical certificates for all of their drivers who hold commercial licenses. Drivers must be examined by a doctor listed in a national registry to obtain a certification that lasts up to two years, said MVA spokesman Chuck Brown. The registry lists several hundred such doctors in the Baltimore area.
If a driver or their employer fails to provide an updated medical certificate, the license holder is allowed to have their license downgraded to a noncommercial license. Under a new state law that went into effect last month, commercial licenses are automatically downgraded.
The MVA is "actively assisting law enforcement's bus crash investigation," officials said in a statement.
Police say the school bus Chappell was driving for AAAffordable Transportation on Tuesday morning rear-ended a car before veering into oncoming traffic and striking a Maryland Transit Administration bus. The drivers of both buses and four passengers on the MTA bus died. No children were aboard the school bus.
Police found no indication that the brakes on the school bus were applied before the collision. Officers said they planned to ask an aide who was the only other person aboard the school bus just what happened just before the wreck.
Chappell was en route to pick up students of a city elementary school when the crash occurred. Bus drivers contracted by city schools must meet health standards with the school system, officials said. Chappell passed an annual physical in June, school officials said.
AAAfordable owner Mark Williams said Thursday afternoon the company was preparing a statement to release.
"My lawyer is saying I'm not allowed to give any information," he said.
