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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.
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Well, that's the breaks!
Seriously, we opened up our borders to these commercial vehicles from Mexico - no safety inspections, just take their word that "esta bueno!" No va!
You stole my thunder! Lousy maintenance and lousy drivers from a third world country driving on our highways. Real smart.
He likely let the brakes get overheated. There are hills in California that are steep and long, and can do havoc on the brakes of heavy vehicles. I used to drive an 18-wheeler, and on some of those roads, the speed limit for trucks and heavy buses is 19 mph. To run those hills, we had to downshift to 6th gear, and keep the speed below 19 mph. In addition to downshifting it was necessary to pump the brake pedal, being careful not to apply pressure to the brake pedal too long at a time, or the brakes would overheat. There are escape ramps along the road to allow a driver that can't control the speed of the vehicle to swerve onto the escape ramp, which turns uphill, and has pea gravel as much as 3 feet deep, which will stop the runaway vehicle, and bury it up to the axles in the pea gravel. Maybe the bus got going so fast he couldn't get into the right-hand lane due to traffic long enough to reach an escape ramp.
Looks like another foreign, rogue bus company operating sh*tty, un-maintained buses just begging for an accident like this. Can't wait to hear the outcome of this company's maintenance and safety record. I bet a month's pay it tells a story.
This is so sad. Even though the driver should have considered using turnout not everyone is familiar with mountian driving, I am amazed that he was able to avoid as many other cars, or didn't go over the edge, like a caller to the news station said. Prayers to those injured, peace to those who have passed over.
"Surviving passengers aboard the bus said they heard noises they thought were the breaks"
It's actually spelled "BRAKES"
We need more editors!
Oops! I misspelled "brakes" too. Sorry about that guys. I hang my head in shame.
More editors or better educated reporters?
It's sad news and my condolences to the families of the passengers on that bus. The witnesses stated that they heard noise that they thought were the breaks and smelled something burning. Sounds like the driver didn't shift down into the lower gear, and tried to use the breaks to slow his speed and the breaks just got too hot and then failed. And, unfortunately, even the best trained drivers can panic....human nature comes into play. Be it driver error, mechanical failure, or a combination of both, accidents can happen at anytime, anywhere. I will pray for all those involved, and hopefully, through the investigation, the issues can be dealt with and repaired or revised so that it won't happen again. It's exactly what they do in air crash investigations. We need to remember that flying is safer today because of what we learned from those tragic accidents in the past. Still, lives were lost, and nothing can fix that.
Sorry about misspelling "brakes". I must be tired. :/
What, buses don't have emergency brakes??? Give me a .... break, PLEASE! This should NEVER, EVER HAPPEN !!! (My sincere condolences to all the victims and their families !!!) - RC
Buses do have emergency brakes, but unfortunately once the brakes get hot nothing will stop the bus. The brakes just stop working.
I say the Pres should work on more "Bus Control"................For the childrens' sake.
MS/NBC further reports that the bus accident was attributed to the amount of assault weapons in America and because of high capacity magazines.
More vehicular homicides in America than Gun homicides... What now?
Smoke and mirror power grab by pols.
Mayor BloomNidiot, please, oh God! Ban these buses! OR ban low bridges!
Writer Andrew Machs needs to go back to senior high English class. Is this the new norm coming out of our colleges and universities? And to boot, he is an NBC staff writer. Of course he is not the only one. Many online reporters/writers are defecient in English and word usage.
Makes ya wonder if bus driver acutally check the bus before using it . These vechicls require to be checked every time they are used . I cant tell ya how many times ive found faulty brakes on trucks used at work. Simple test like checking brakes isnt hard to do if you do 4 steps . Problem is do drivers check these vechicles before after they use them i dought this bus was checked or driver woudl found problem before he used the bus
Witnesses onboard the bus and in other vehicles describe the bus having brake failure, the driver told invetigators tht the brakes failed, and then we have this from the police: “Speed was probably a factor,”.
It seems logical that a giant, heavy bus going on a long downhill road with brake failure would have been going faster than normal.
Same old problem. Going too fast downhill in a heavy bus and the brakes burn out and you can't stop. That's why these tour bus compaines MUST have experienced Commercial Drivers. Experienced. It saves lives.
All the passengers felt they were in a safe bus with a qualified driver. NOT THE CASE HERE. This driver is at fault. The investigation will prove it. Sad but true.
It happens with Tractor Trailers, Moving Trucks, Big U Hauls, any big heavy trucks and it is very Common in inexperienced Drivers.
I keep seeing referrals to guns and other such stupid things here. This has nothing to do with guns. It seems to mostly be the result of poor maintenance and possibly untrained drivers. I am commenting after just seeing that the Feds have shut down the tour bus operator involved. Seems they did not perform regular service on thier vehicles and were cited before for this.
For those saying to just shut off the engine and apply the emergency brakes, you scare me. Imagine trying to steer a bus weighing over 15tons down a winding road with no power steering and no power to any safety equipment such as brakes. Deadly result
Did anyone catch this is an AMERICAN bus company? Not Mexican as many complain about unsafe trucks and busses crossing the borders. This does not by any means say that the Mexican ones are safe either, as I am unaware of the level of safety or consistency of any safety measures the Mexican government requires. What i am saying is this company has operated with numerous safety violations in the past and is California based. This is not acceptable. The driver training is another issue. I am certain he was not skilled in mountain driving or this should not have happened the way it did. God rest the souls of the deceased and bring comfort to the families who lost loved ones, including the Truck driver who sucumbed to his injuries and lived locally.
Well...time to put a ban on buses.