Death toll expected to rise in California tour bus crash

http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/04/us/california-bus-crash/index.html?hpt=hp_t3

(CNN) -- The death toll in a Southern California tour bus crash is expected to rise Monday as authorities try to get to bodies still inside the bus, authorities said.

At least eight people were killed in the Sunday crash.

"It's a horrific scene," California Highway Patrol spokesman Mario Lopez said. "Probably one of the worst ones I have seen in my career. There are victims inside the bus, outside the bus, personal belongings [everywhere]."

A coroner is trying to identify the victims' bodies.

The bus rear-ended a sedan in San Bernardino County, east of Los Angeles, around 6:30 p.m. local time. The crash happened in a mountainous area of State Route 38, between Mentone and Forest Falls, San Bernardino Fire Department spokesman Eric Sherwin said.

More at link.....

This took place about 45 minutes from me and, yes, I know the road well. The area mentioned, between Mentone and Forest Falls, is not particularly steep or twisting; it's more "suburban" than "mountainous" (although the road does get more treacherous as it rises beyond Forest Falls).

Has anyone see an explanation for the crash?

Thanks for the info, Nova...this link says the bus driver said it was the brakes:

http://centurylink.net/news/read.php?rip_id=<DA486EE00@news.ap.org>&ps=1011

YUCAIPA, Calif. (AP) — The bus full of tired tourists returning to Tijuana, Mexico, was slowly winding its way down a mountain road after a day playing in the snow at the ski resort town of Big Bear when it suddenly picked up speed. The driver shouted to call 911 — the brakes had failed...........

Government records showed the bus, operated by Scapadas Magicas LLC of National City, Calif., recorded 22 safety violations in inspections in the year ending last October — including brake, windshield and tire problems. Though the company retained an overall "satisfactory" rating from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration it had been targeted for a higher rate of inspections linked to bus maintenance, the agency said............more at link.....

That makes more sense. For some reason I didn't think of the bus coming DOWN the mountain, where the failure of brakes would indeed prove calamitous. (I probably didn't think of it because that isn't the most direct route; but it MAY be the easiest route for a bus.)

Although the road below Forest Falls doesn't consist of switchbacks, it does curve with the canyon wall and there is a steep drop off into the canyon below. It probably wasn't a matter of just "pulling off the road" and hoping the terrain would slow the bus, because "off the road" was either into a mountain wall or a drop hundreds of feet into the canyon.

What a nightmare!

Brakes become key issue in deadly Calif. bus crash

http://www.centurylink.net/news/rea...ass&action=2&lang=en&_LT=UNLC_NKNWU00L2_UNEWS

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Investigators zeroed in on brakes as a possible cause of last weekend's deadly tour bus crash that killed seven people, including a 13-year-old boy from San Diego and his mother and grandmother.

Victor Cabrera-Garcia, Elvira Garcia Jimenez and Guadalupe Olivas were among 38 people on a daylong trip from Tijuana, Mexico, to see the snow in the San Bernardino Mountains. The bus crashed Sunday evening near Yucaipa as it made its way down meandering state Route 38.

Beginning a review that could take months, investigators from the California Highway Patrol and the National Transportation Safety Board started collecting evidence about the bus, road conditions, and possible driver error or fatigue that could have played a role in the crash..............more.....

Regulators Shut Down Bus Company Involved in Fatal Crash Citing "Immediate Hazard to Public Safety"

...........The Sunday evening crash killed at least eight people, including seven tour bus passengers and a pickup driver who was struck by the bus as it careened out of control on Highway 38 near Yucaipa. Dozens of people were injured in the crash, some of them critically.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said in a statement Friday that the buses operated by Scapadas Magicas LLC pose an imminent hazard to public safety.

"After the tragic crash earlier this week, FMCSA investigators quickly inspected this carrier’s other two buses which had been operated on U.S. roads, and immediately shut them down," said FMCSA Administrator Anne S. Ferro. "Today, we've officially blocked the company from conducting future operations in the United States.".........more......


Source: http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/l...ly-US-Regulators-190477451.html#ixzz2KQSqnCAq