BALTIMORE _ Federal investigators ruled out mechanical defects as a cause of a bus crash that killed six people and injured 11 others in Baltimore, authorities said Friday.
The announcement leaves open a working theory by police that 67-year-old Glenn Chappell suffered a medical emergency Tuesday morning, causing the school bus he was driving to veer into oncoming traffic and smash into a oncoming Maryland Transit Administration bus.
"We have completed the mechanical inspections of both buses involved in the crash and no mechanical defects or deficiencies were notes," said Jennifer Morrison, an investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board.
The severity of the crash on Frederick Avenue has drawn the federal investigators to Baltimore. Morrison said it was the first crash involving a transit bus they've investigated since 1997. Agents closed one lane of Frederick Avenue Friday while they measured the route to determine the precise speed of the school bus. Police have said the school bus was speeding.
Officers also named the sixth person killed in the crash and called for help in finding the victim's family. Pattie Lynn Martinez, 46, last known to live in Fells Point, was identified Friday.
Baltimore City Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke said Friday that she has asked the city school system to terminate its contract with a bus company that employed Chappell, after it was found that the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration had revoked his driving privileges two months ago because he failed to provide the agency with a required certificate showing he was in good health.
"It's the only thing to restore confidence for a lot of families," Clarke said.
An attorney for the bus company, AAAfordable Transportation Inc., said Chappell passed a physical exam five months ago. Baltimore city schools officials said they had records on file showing Chappell passed his annual physical in June.
But Clarke said someone should have known that Chappell's license was no longer valid and questioned whether Chappell should have been driving a bus given court records that show a prior record of accidents and traffic violations.
"I don't know how he got through the screening," she said.
AAAfordable Transportation, a small bus company in southwest Baltimore, is one of seven companies contracted by Baltimore schools to transport students.
Witnesses described mangled buses, trapped passengers and cries for help. Nine MTA passengers and the bus aide were injured. One woman woke to find glass in her mouth and two bodies lying on her.
The others killed were the MTA bus driver, Ebonee Baker, 33, a mother of four children and three stepchildren; Cherry Yarborough, 51, a secretary at the state Department of Health and Mental Hygiene; Gerald Holloway, 51, a maintenance worker at Forest Haven Nursing and Rehabilitation; and Terrance Casey, 52, a former volunteer minister, husband and father.
