Articles Posted in Motor Vehicle Accidents

Three people were killed and twenty-six others were injured when a bus carrying teenagers returning to Indiana from a Michigan church camp crashed Saturday afternoon. The teenagers were returning from Camp CoBeAc about six hours north. According to officials, the bus was just minutes from its destination, Colonial Hills Baptist Church, when it came speeding off of Interstate 465 north of Indianapolis. The bus struck a retaining wall as it rounded a curve and flipped over. The church’s youth pastor had tweeted only hours before the crash that the group would arrive around 4:15 p.m., which was approximately when the crash occurred. Indianapolis Public Safety Director Troy Riggs said it “only adds to the tragedy” that the group had almost arrived home at the time of the accident.

Riggs said that among the dead were a man and his wife. No information was provided about the third victim. Riggs and Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard visited the accident scene, where they found pillows, seat cushions, and clothing, strewn across the ground and at least two shattered windows. According to Riggs, there is no evidence to show that the driver suffered any sort of medical episode before the crash. Investigators are currently working to determine the cause of the accident. A local TV station reported that the driver told witnesses his brakes failed. Investigators have not yet determined whether the church-owned bus had mechanical issues.

A witness said he “heard a skid” and then he looked back and saw “this bus in the air and people falling out of the bus.” The Indianapolis Fire Department had to free five people from the bus. Several onlookers stopped to help before rescue crews arrived. One of those onlookers freed the driver from the bus. At least one teenager was transported to a local hospital in critical condition. Fire officials said many individuals suffered head, arm and leg injuries.

3 dead when bus carrying teens crashes in Indiana, www.palmbeachpost.com July 27, 2013

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Two close-knit South Carolina families are dead after the plane they were riding in crashed shortly after takeoff, bringing their Alaskan vacation to a tragic and devastating end. The four members of the McManus family and the five members of the Antonakos family died Sunday along with their pilot, Walter “Willie” Rediske, when the plane crashed and burst into flames at an airport about seventy-five miles southwest of Anchorage. All ten people aboard the de Havilland DH3 were killed.

The crash occurred right at the last leg of a long-awaited vacation. The two families were so close that many assumed their children were brothers and sisters. They decided this year they would take a ten-day adventure together into the Alaskan wilderness. Milton Antonakos, aka Melet, and Chris McManus, the two fathers, met just as they were beginning their families. Their families spent time together on a South Carolina lake and attended the same church. Chris McManus was a radiologist and his wife, Stacey, loved teaching Vacation Bible School. Melet Antonakos sold computer software to doctors and his wife, Kim, spent much of her time volunteering at the children’s school. Reverend Harrison McLeod comforted the families’ congregation by stating, “These were good people, some of the best people you would want to know.”

The flight was planned to leave from Soldotna, Alaska and travel to Chinitna Bay, where the families would visit a remote bear-viewing lodge. National Transportation Safety Board member Earl Weener said Tuesday that the plane, which seats up to eleven, landed more than 2,300 feet from the departure point and 88 feet off the right side of the runway. There is no surveillance footage of the crash and no witnesses have yet come forward. The Soldotna airport did not have a control tower, which is common at small airports, where pilots communicate directly with each other. Firefighters arrived on scene shortly after the accident and it took them ten minutes to put out the flames. The NTSB is currently investigating the cause of the accident by looking at five cell phones recovered at the scene and a flight tracking device in the plane. Since 1975, there have been nine fatal crashes in Alaska involving de Havilland Otter planes. One of those crashes killed former U.S. Senator Ted Stevens and four others in 2010. Sunday’s crash brings the death toll from these crashes to thirty.

2 close-knit SC families die in Alaska plane crash, www.miamiherald.com July 9, 2013

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The pilot at the controls of a Boeing 777 attempted, but failed, to abort landing at the San Francisco airport Saturday after coming in too slow to land safely. It is unclear whether the Asiana plane pilot’s lack of experience with this type of aircraft and the airport played a role in the crash. Aviation and airline officials are also currently investigating whether any equipment at the airport or on the plane could have malfunctioned. Two of the three-hundred-seven passengers were killed as a result of the accident, less than two-thirds required hospitalization, and only a small number sustained critical injuries. San Mateo County Coroner Robert Foucrault stated he was investigating whether one of the two passengers that died was actually killed after being run over by a rescue vehicle rushing to the scene of the crash.

The head of the National Transportation Safety Board, Deborah Hersman, said at a news conference that the airliner was travelling at speeds well below the target landing speed of 157 mph. The slow speed triggered a warning that the plane could stall, so an effort was made to abort the landing, but the plane crashed about a second later. Seven seconds prior to the crash, Hersman said the pilots recognized the need to increase speed and three seconds later, the aircraft’s stick shaker-a piece of equipment that warns pilots that a plane is about to stall-went off. Survivors and witnesses recall that the plane was travelling too slowly, leading its tail to clip a seawall and nose to slam down into the ground.

There was no indication in the discussions between the pilots and air traffic controllers that there were any problems with the plane. Asiana airline said Monday that the pilot had little experience flying that type of plane and was landing for the first time in the San Francisco airport. Investigators are also looking at the role in the crash, if any, of the deactivation of a ground-based landing guidance system due to airport construction. These systems help pilots safely land, especially at airports like San Francisco’s where landing can be difficult because of dense fog. Saturday, conditions were nearly perfect though, with sunny skies and light winds.

Pilot in SF crash had little experience with 777s, www.palmbeachpost.com July 8, 2013

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A pilot and a stunt walker are dead after a plane crashed and exploded into flames at an Ohio air show Saturday. The 450 HP Stearman crashed around 12:45 p.m. near Dayton at the Vectren Air Show as thousands of spectators looked on in disbelief. No spectators were injured in the accident. A video of the scene showed the plane turning upside-down as the wing walker, Jane Wicker, sat on top of the wing. The plane then tilted and sped towards the ground. Spectators yelled out in terror as the plane exploded on the ground.

An aviation photographer, Ian Hoyt, was taking photographs at the air show. He was about to take a photograph when he saw the plane was flying “too low and too slow.” He said before he knew it, the plane had crashed. Hoyt said it appeared to him that the plane did not have enough air speed and that it had stalled. Hoyt also stated that the pilot appeared to steer clear of the crowd and probably saved lives.

The biplane was registered to Wicker, according to federal records. The pilot of the plane is suspected to be Charlie Schwenker. Jane Wicker’s Airshows’ Facebook page announced the deaths of Wicker and Schwenker. Ohio State Highway Patrol Lt. Anne Ralston and Daytona International Airport spokeswoman Linda Hughes confirmed the deaths of a stunt walker and pilot, but refused to release their names. The air show also refused to release the identities of the deceased. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash. Another wing walker, Todd Green, fell to his death in 2011 at a Michigan air show as he attempted to perform a stunt on a helicopter. Jim LeRoy, a veteran stunt pilot, died in 2007 at the Dayton air show when his biplane crashed into runway and blew up in flames.

Wing walker, pilot die in crash at Ohio air show, www.palmbeachpost.com June 22, 2013

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Just a month after five nurses were killed in a limousine fire in Northern California, ten women, some in their nineties, escaped unharmed from a smoking limousine that quickly became engulfed in flames. The women were celebrating a ninetieth birthday and were sitting inside the limousine outside the birthday woman’s home. One of the passengers, Mary Chapman, sixty-three, said it was just after 11 a.m. on Sunday, June 9, when white smoke emerged from the partition separating the driver and passenger compartments. The doors of the vehicle were open at that time. Chapman stated she believed that the open doors are what saved the women.

When the women saw the flames they moved to the back of the vehicle and assisted each other out the door. A caregiver was there assisting the women as well and some relied on their walkers and canes to exit the limousine. About fifteen minutes later flames erupted. All of the women had relocated into the home by that time. The fire completely destroyed the driver and passenger compartments.

The May 4 fire on the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge over San Francisco Bay trapped five women in a limousine that was engulfed in flames within minutes. The California Highway Patrol has not yet concluded its investigation of this fire. Industry experts have said that the stretch limousine industry is poorly regulated because of a lack of funds and this could be a major contributing cause of the recent fires. According to Claudius Oliviera, the owner of the company that operates the limo, the 2008 Lincoln Town Car that caught fire Sunday was well-maintained and had about 80,000 miles. Oliviera blamed the manufacturer and said faulty wiring was responsible for the fire.

10 women, many in 90s, escape Calif. limo fire, www.palmbeachpost.com June 10, 2013

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Nearly three dozen people were transported to hospitals in Louisville, Kentucky on Tuesday afternoon after a bus full of high school students and adult chaperones veered out of control and crashed into a concrete median on a Kentucky interstate. The Waggener High School students were returning from a trip to Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond, according to Jefferson County public schools spokesman Ben Jackey. Jackey stated that the students, all juniors and seniors, were participating in a program that gives students the opportunity to visit college campuses.

Among those transported to local hospitals were thirty students and four adults, including the driver of the bus. Barbara DiMecurio, director of emergency services at University of Louisville Hospital, stated that the injured were taken to five different hospitals in the area and all were reported to be in stable condition by Tuesday evening. Maggie Roetker, a Norton Healthcare spokeswoman, said that twenty-one children were taken to three of the company’s hospitals and four remained in the hospital as of Tuesday night.

Police are investigating whether mechanical failure, including tire trouble, is to blame for the accident. A dashboard camera from a nearby truck showed video of the bus unexpectedly veering across the three left lanes of travel and into a concrete median. The crash occurred around 2:30 p.m. near the Jefferson-Shelby county line on the westbound side of Interstate 64. There was another bus transporting Waggener High School students from the college visit, but that bus returned safely to the Louisville school. Andrea Clifford, Kentucky Transportation Cabinet spokeswoman, said there was another accident on the opposite side of the interstate near the bus crash.

Multiple injuries reported in Kentucky bus crash, www.palmbeachpost.com June 11, 2013

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A pilot died over the weekend after he crashed his plane in the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge. According to federal aviation officials, seventy-five-year-old Paul S. Soulé had radioed a tower before the crash about equipment problems. A spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board, Peter Knudson, stated that Soulé, a Fruitland Park resident, warned tower officials about the equipment. Knudson could not provide any further details at the time. Knudson said crash investigators are reviewing audio tapes and flight records from prior to the incident. The investigation continued throughout the day today. The NTSB and FAA expect to release a preliminary report of the crash sometime next week.

Soulé left Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport Saturday morning around 9:45 a.m. to head home, but his Cessna 340A crashed to the ground about twenty minutes later in a swampy marsh about twenty miles west of Boynton Beach. Palm Beach County Fire Rescue received calls about the crash at about 1:25 in the afternoon. They responded to the scene, along with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, using airboats. The NTSB and the Federal Aviation Administration have collected the plane’s engine from the swamp, but the remainder of the plane will be gathered and removed on Tuesday.

Soulé had more than fifty years of experience flying aircraft and he was a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel and pilot. Soulé maintained a website that stated he had logged over 18,000 flight hours without an incident. He did have a close call in March when his landing gear failed and he was forced to make an emergency landing. Two years ago there was another crash in the refuge. Ryan Ruano and his cousin Sean McLeod died on November 13, 2011 when their 2008 Cirrus SR-22 crashed.

Pilot in deadly plane crash in wildlife refuge had radioed bout equipment problems, officials say, www.palmbeachpost.com June 10, 2013

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The commuter train collision and derailment that sent over seventy people to hospitals in Connecticut on Friday evening was not the result of foul play, according to officials investigating the cause of the accident. There is, however, a fractured section of rail that could have been connected to the accident. This section of the rail is of great interest to investigators and has been sent into a lab for analysis, according to Earl Weener, a National Transportation Safety Board member. Weener stated that the investigation is still in its early stages and that the NTSB will not speculate on the cause of the derailment at this time.

The Metro-North train was headed east from New York City Friday evening when it collided with a train headed west from New Haven. Seventy-two people went to the hospital as a result of the accident. Almost all of those people have been discharged. However, some suffered more serious injuries that have prolonged their stay in the hospital. According to a Bridgeport Hospital spokesman, twenty-six people who were injured in the accident were treated there. Three of them were admitted, two in stable condition and one in critical condition. A spokeswoman for St. Vincent Medical Center stated that forty-six injured individuals were treated there, six were admitted, but all were in stable condition. Officials have stated how fortunate it was that no one was killed based on the devastating damage left behind at the scene of the crash. United States Senators Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy both stated that the Metro-North cars, which had been built to meet higher standards, likely saved lives.

President of MTA Metro-North Railroad, Howard Permut, stated that customer safety is a top priority for the company and in order to ensure that safety, the company will suspend service between South Norwalk and New Haven until further notice. NTSB investigators arrived in Connecticut on Saturday and are expected to remain on site for up to ten days. NTSB will conduct an on-site investigation that will include examining the crew performance and train signal information and brakes and performance of the trains. Once this on-site investigation is completed, special equipment will be brought on scene to remove the trains and debris.

Official: Broken rail eyed in Conn. train crash, www.palmbeachpost.com May 18, 2013

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At least two people are dead and several others injured after a chartered bus overturned in the center median of a busy highway near Dallas, Texas on Thursday, according to authorities. The bus was carrying approximately thirty people when it suddenly slid off the highway in Irving, just east of the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, stated Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper Lonny Haschel. Haschel said that the bus was travelling north to a casino, possibly in Oklahoma, and that two deaths have been confirmed.

The bus was travelling along State Highway 161 when it rolled into the center median. Emergency workers and police used ladders to get on top of the bus in order to reach injured passengers. Medical helicopters arrived on scene and some passengers were being wheeled on stretchers to ambulances.

Six passengers were transported from the scene of the accident to Las Colinas Medical Center in Irving. Tyler Adams, a hospital spokesman, stated that he believed more passengers were going to be transported to that facility. The hospital did not release the conditions of the patients. Passengers were also transported to Baylor Medical Center in Irving. The bus belongs to Cardinal Coach Line. The company refused to release a statement. The crash caused traffic in the area to back up for several miles.

At least 2 killed when bus overturns in Texas, www.palmbeachpost.com April 11, 2013

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