CLEVELAND (AP): Officials at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport have fired an airfield maintenance worker they say drove an SUV across an active runway and crossed paths with a departing commercial flight.

Airport Director Fred Szabo says a maintenance crew foreman was fired for causing what the Feral Aviation Administration classified as the most serious level of runway incursion. Szabo says that is one that causes a near collision.

The director says the man told officials he became disoriented just after midnight on Jan. 17 when he led a team of snowplow drivers onto an open runway. Szabo says the man ignored lights and barriers warning of the danger of departing flights.

The director says three snowplow drivers followed the foreman. Airport officials are determining whether the drivers will face discipline.