E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSSeveral people were killed and dozens more injured on Sunday when a tour bus collided with a truck and a second vehicle on a mountain road east of Los Angeles.
In the aftermath of the tour bus collision near Los Angeles that left at least seven people dead and another 38 injured, investigators and witnesses were still piecing together the grim details on Monday.
The collision, which occurred at about 6:30 p.m. PST Sunday on Highway 38 near Mentone, Calif., about 80 miles east of Los Angeles, involved the tour bus carrying 39 passengers, a truck and a sedan, officers with the California Highway Patrol said.
“It happened so fast, I don’t know how it all happened,” one passenger told the San Bernadino Sun. “This was supposed to be a good day out with my companions and then this happened.”
A victim’s family member identified many of the passengers from Tijuana, Mexico, who were returning from a skiing and snowboarding trip at the Big Bear Mountain Resort when the bus began swerving.
Surviving passengers aboard the bus said they heard noises they thought were the breaks and smelled something burning and then watched in horror as the bus weaved in and out of traffic for up to three minutes, trying to avoid cars, NBCLosAngeles.com reported.
“I saw a headlight in my rear-view mirror,” Betty Harvey, a witness, told NBCLosAngeles.com. “I moved over and he went flying past. He was swerving all the way down.”
The bus hit a car, then flipped, flinging some passengers 20 feet away from the bus. There was significant damage to the passenger's side of the bus, Ronald Walls, a battalion chief at the San Bernardino County Fire Department, said.
Passengers said the bus driver was stuck under a rock, before he was rescued. CHP Officer Mario Lopez said the driver told investigators the bus suffered brake problems as it headed down the mountain.
Firefighters worked to extricate people from the bus and emergency crews set up triage areas in a "mass casualty" situation, Eric Sherwin, with the San Bernardino County Fire Department told NBCLosAngeles.com
California Department of Transportation spokeswoman Michelle Profant said the scene after the crash was shocking.
"It's really a mess up there with body parts," Profant told The Associated Press.
Terri Kasinga of the California Department of Transportation described the crash as the worst she's seen in 23 years working for the agency, NBCLosAngeles.com reported.
Nick Ut / Associated Press
San Bernardino investigators examine wreckage on Feb. 4 after a tour bus accident in the Southern California mountains near San Bernardino. The accident killed at least 8 people on Sunday.
CHP officials said there was concern the death toll could rise because some passengers sustained life-threatening injuries. Exact ages of the injured and dead were not immediately known.
The CHP was still on the scene Monday, attempting to determine what led to the deadly crash.
“Speed was probably a factor,” CHP Officer Mario Lopez told NBCLosAngeles.com. “We do not know if there was a mechanical failure or driver error. That’s what investigators at the scene are going to determine.”
Lopez said the bus is owned by Scapadas Magicas LLC, which is based in National City, Calif., and is also listed in Tijuana, Mexico.
The National Transportation Safety Board said Monday they sent a team to investigate the crash.
Leave a Comment:
As long as you make sure that everyone who signs a contract and boards your bus agrees to hold you responsible for *nothing*, all is well.
What if the bus hits your wife and kids? Duhhh yuk yuk. Time for Glenn Beck,...duhhh
What a horrible ordeal... So sad. Hope the surviving injured, have a full recovery.
News Flash Feinstein Vows to Ban Assault Buses.
I agree we should ban buses from Mexico, they are junk and might kill you on the road there Hannity Jr.
Mexican safety comes to the USA. This is Republican nirvana.....untrained bus drivers, vehicles not in good shape, no laws...freedom...to create mayhem and the insurance industry will up everyone's premiums. Didn't think about that did ya Republicans?
When we have a Katrina, tornado, or Sandy everyone's premiums go up and in some cases some houses are not longer insured by a company.
Money Republicans, freedom to create mayhem causes deaths and money, your money.$$$$$$$$$$ take note Republicans.$$$$$$$$$ yours
wallacet1947
Maybe you should have a chat with Bill Clinton and the Democrats also.....
NAFTA was the prelude to permitting Mexican vehicles on the roads of America.
The facts really suck when they don't agree with your theories don't they?
If the brakes were hot enough to smell burnt, that means they were too hot to be effective. The driver probably overheated the brakes on the incline.
That will, no doubt, be the conclusion.
Funny how the right is making fun not even thinking a bus with no brakes could kill their loved ones...I mean other than themselves they love.
They are hilariously stupid folks. I wish there was a right wing land we could send them where everyone smokes all over each other, no drunk driving laws, no brakes on any cars. It would be fun to watch the carnage from afar.
@wallacet1947 - WTF? Really. I haven't seen anyone on here really making fun of anything except maybe the ineptness of the editing staff on MSN who don't know the difference between "brakes" and "breaks". A couple of comments about Pelosi and Feinstein but you get that about Bush and Cheney all the time so it really doesn't matter too much to the conversation and I don't see that as making fun.
You, on the other hand seem to be placing complete blame on people who had nothing to do with an accident that occurred. You have no facts to say that Republicans were even involved in the bus company. None to support an argument that people who vote Republican don't think about the safety of their loved ones. A completely asinine statement in and of itself.
I sincerely believe the moderator not only should collapse and delete your comments, but ban you for a few weeks while they contact someone that might be able to help you with your obvious psychosis.
Reading these posts one knows why we have 120 car pileups in fog. Duhh was I suppose to slow down? Duhhh
we should ban embassies
We should ban border patrol agents, since they will inevitably get shot
Ban red neck Republicans in Alabama and bunkers
Please tell me Feinstink and Pisslosi were on board!
My car is a Volvo with standard transmission. In June 2006 I was coming down a hill at a pretty good clip when my brakes failed completely. At the foot of the hill was an intersection with cars stopped for the light. I geared down through 3rd, 2nd, then 1st and was able to stop before I got to the cars. It hadn't crossed my mind that I could have used the parking brake to stop. (It's a completely separate system on the Volvo but I'd always thought of it as the parking brake rather than an emergency brake.) If my car had automatic transmission, the parking brake would have been my only option. I can easily imagine someone panicking in that situation and not thinking of what options they have. I don't know if the bus in this incident had an emergency brake that is a separate system but I think it would have standard transmission. Could the driver not have geared down, using the transmission as a brake? In my case, the road levelled out just before the intersection. Had it been hill all the way, I couldn't have come to a complete stop in 1st gear but I'd have been moving very slowly. Perhaps by gearing down the bus driver could have gotten to a low enough speed that a collision would not be serious.
The vast majority of busses have automatic transmissions today. HOWEVER, as this one was from Mexico, anything is possible.
Commercial bus's have air brakes. A generator mounted to the motor produces air pumped into a holding tank for when the brake pedal is applied forcing air through the lines to activate the brakes. The same type air brakes used on tractor trailers and trains. A loaded bus can weigh in excess of 50,000 lbs and when going downhill the driver must know how to use air brakes in combination with downshifting and engine brake (jake brake) to maintain safe speed control. If you ride the brake the pads overheat and emitt a burnt smell plus white smoke, the become spongy and ineffective from excess heat and you use all of you air faster than the compressor can replace resulting in a total loss of braking. With 50,000 lbs pushing you downhill via gravity this makes for horrible accidents. Drivers must have proper training and experience along with complete mechanical inspections every 45 days per law.
One problem that arises with buses is some are equipped with automatic or hydrostatic transmissions which makes them easier for inexperienced drivers to operate. But this also limits the ability to manually downshift on descending grades to slow the vehicle and save the brakes. Also if a driver is inexperienced at driving a large vehicle on steep grades it is very easy to overheat the brakes. I have no direct knowledge of what happened here these are just thought I had while reading the article. As a professional driver I can say that driver error is always the first consideration, equipment failure being second.
bow2me - you'd be looking for a really long time on Highway 38.
It's winding country road that goes up the side of a mountain of volcanic origin. Lots of hard rock and lots of slope. In many cases the road is cut into the side of the hill and has an upslope on one side and downslope on the other - nowhere to go except along the road.
whitestar77-2514207
You're obviously familar with the road and area. Do you know if that particular road is even legal for a big truck or bus to be on in the first place?
I've gone over Donner Pass in a big truck and did NOT relish the trip at all. Very fortunately, I don't drive any longer and am back working in a much safer, MUCH better paying position.
"Surviving passengers aboard the bus said they heard noises they thought were the breaks and smelled something burning and then watched in horror as the bus weaved in and out of traffic for up to three minutes, trying to avoid cars.
The bus hit a car, then flipped, flinging some passengers 20 feet away from the bus. Passengers said the driver was suck under a rock, but he survived, NBCLosAngeles.com reported."
LMAO! the "BREAKS"? "SUCK under a rock? was this story written during someones recess?
EXACTLY, I lose interest in a story after finding so many spelling errors.
We can not expect everyone to have good writing skills when it has been decided that one main place to save money is in education.
However, when I see a store sign with a misspelling which is not a name created for looks, I will take my business elsewhere because I live in an area with a variety of stores/offices/restaurants. The misspelling on a business sign is a clear indicator that someone does not care, and may not care when something matters most.
Well there are a lot of things that could have happened. I hate the way they test and check you when you get pulled over. But really it does give them a view of how safe you are to yourself and others. The driver got a blood test for sure. That's the first thing after you tell them what they ask. Most of the time and I'm sure it won't be different here, they will take the bus to their inspection site and take it apart. Checking even the torch on the bolts. They will find out why it happened or with in a good reasonable cause. The driver's future and unified carrier license of the company is on the line. I have never had a accident in my 25 years. But I know people who have.
sorry I know it should be "torque on the bolts"
Who do we send the bill to? and if the poor people laid up in the hospital for months, do they become USA people now, under the OBama rule? Yes this is very bad, but in Mexico, it happens more offten. I wonder how much the bus drive was paid an hour? What would work is simple, transfer passaengers to USA bus, at boarder, after all most who are caught here, and sent back to Mexico, get to ride a n ice safe Greyhound bush with air, free.
I wonder if this is just one bus TA, a year, or do we have more, but the news media does not report on it. hope the people a speed recovery, and sorry it happened, also hope Mexico foots some of the bill. If it were our bus in Mexico, driver would go to jail, and USA would have to foot the bill, plus pay extra money to the police Dept.
It is sad this happened but that was my question also.....who is going to pay for all the transport to hospital, hospital bills and then getting them back to Mexico? Since it happened in the US, you know there will be law suits to follow.
From what I know they have to have one million in insurance for freight and I'm sure more for passengers. Plus a bond mine is like $300,000 state and the insurance company supplies all bonding under my coverage. Under their state bond. But if I have an accident that bond will be raised accordingly as they put it. After the insurance covers all it's responsibilities. The owner is still open to personal loses in court.
I rode to Big Bear Lake on a bus many years ago, and when I saw the road and the drop-off, I swore I would never drive it in my car.
Along with possible mechanical failure, unfamiliarity with the route may have contributed to the driver's lack of control.
Inexperiened driver is all it was. He got going to fast down the mountain and overheated his brakes. On a lot of these buses they are controlled by an electronic transmission. Once to take a bus like this out of gear sometimes it will not go back into any gear as the syncronization can be off. If he did indeed try to take it out of gear and try a lower gear it would not have worked if he was already going too fast. Also there is an emergency brake on a bus but if your brake pads are already practically on fire then it does nothing. Once you lose brakes like that its all about finding a place to crash SOONER rather than later. Usually sooner means SLOWER when going down a mountain of hill area. Could have also been a brake air system failure or some kind of other failure mechanically. Sad day for many of those families. My prayers go out to them.
Highway 38 is notorious for accidents. Specifically for people who are driving down off the mountain who lose their brakes. My family experienced the same misfortune to many years ago to mention. The only reason we were able to survive was due to one of the turnouts had a high enough berm that we were able to hit and stop before a cliff. With that said, if your brakes are even close to half worn, you will be in trouble before you get to the bottom of the mountain.
My condolences to the family's that lost loved ones and I pray for those injured.
Maybe your staff writer should use spell check. Brakes, as referred to on a vehicle, is NOT spelled breaks. Really tired of newspapers not proof reading their content!
I'm also very sad for the families of the victims involved, may they rest in peace.
Looks like we need to make sure tour bus inspections are up to date before every trip. Unlike the furor that would come up if a guy hopped on the bus and mowed down a bunch of people with the evil "assault weapon", I find it somewhat refreshing that people tend to wonder about driver qualifications and inspections. I'm also noticing that the bus itself is not to blame. (in that we should call for a ban on buses that carry more than 10 people to minimize the casualties)
Also, for a professional news organization you'd think they could do a better job of editing and proofreading as the following statement shows they apparently lack:
I know they meant brakes but really, if we can correct the average posters on here we should be able to hold professionals to a higher standard.
I wonder how much seat belts would have saved life here.
I am so tired of the news media, beating the gun control issue, and never a word about's in all busses, school busses, first. D Fienstien where are you, our people childern are getting killed because no seatbelts in busses.
Once your breaks are hot, your in deep @!$%#, standard trans would have help, if he had it in a low gear starting down the hill, Auto? hot breaks, driver did not know road, tired, sun going down in his face?
@David Palmaro: I'm with you there. It makes no sense we have mandatory seat belt laws for all passenger vehicles except buses. My kids ride a bus to school unbelted. So what happens if the bus overturns? Kids flying everywhere.
its not near Los Angles , its Mentone / Redlands / Yucaipa...I drive this road all the time its the back way up to Big Bear / Forrest Falls for the most part its a 2 lane rd, Sad deal sorry for the folks involved....
We really need to look at outlawing these buses! Look at all of the people that are injured or die because of them! We should start calling them assault vehicles, because they hold more than 8 people! Ban these assault vehicles now!(9sarcasm intended for those that do not get it!)