NTSB: Brakes on band bus faulty
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BY JEFFREY HAGE jeff.hage@lee.net
Thursday, October 27, 2005 8:23 AM CDT
EAU CLAIRE - A federal investigation of the semi-bus crash that killed five people found that the Chippewa Trails motor coach bus had severely defective brakes at the time of the accident.
It also concluded that the bus driver was not wearing his glasses, and had been up for 19 hours, two more than the recommended standard.
The findings were announced Tuesday afternoon at an Eau Claire press conference by David Rayburn, an investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board.
The bus driver and four passengers, including Chi-Hi band director Doug Greenhalgh, died in the crash. Another 39 passengers, including band members, instructors and chaperones, were hurt in the incident. The bus was the first of four on their way home to Chippewa Falls from state band competition in the early-morning hours of Oct. 16.
The bus involved in the accident would not have been allowed on Wisconsin's highways, Rayburn said.
The primary brakes were "seriously out of adjustment," he said. The bus had been taken out of service in July with brake problems.
"If it had been inspected prior to the accident, it would have been placed out of service," Rayburn said.
The set of brakes in the middle of the bus were defective, said Rayburn. Those brakes carry the greatest load and are responsible for as much as 90 percent of the braking action.
"They were nearly bottomed out," he said. "They were way out of adjustment."
The bus hit an overturned semi-trailer truck on I-94 near Osseo. Bus driver Paul Rasmus, 78, had been awake for 19 hours at the time of the crash. Rasmus was driving with a restricted license requiring him to wear corrective lenses. Rasmus was not wearing his glasses at the time of the accident. The glasses were found in a case in his personal luggage, Rayburn said.
As far as driver fatigue, "anytime a driver is awake for more than 17 hours, research has shown they are more prone to making errors," Rayburn said.
It remains unclear what effect factors like the brakes and driver fatigue played in the fatal accident. That's because it is believed two minutes and 19 seconds had passed between the time 22-year-old Michael Kozlowski jackknifed and overturned the semi he was driving, blocking both lanes of westbound I-94 near Osseo. The semi truck contained equipment that registered speed, direction and other indicators, which showed the truck was traveling 52 mph when it jackknifed, and that it was likely struck 2 minutes and 19 seconds later.
It's unlikely there were any telltale signs that the rollover had occurred as Rasmus approached the dark undercarriage of the semi, Rayburn said.
Kozlowski, of Highland, Ind., told authorities that he was going to pull off the road to urinate along the side of the road when his truck ventured onto the shoulder of the interstate, Rayburn said. Kozlowski said he lost control of the truck when he pulled back onto the highway. The NTSB investigation indicates he veered off the road for 534 feet before overturning.
But Rayburn said some physical evidence and statements from drivers who observed the truck contradict Kozlowski's statement.
"You have to remember that there were people behind the truck that saw things, too," Rayburn said, who declined to elaborate.
He says it's not clear what role the defective bus brakes played in the crash because there were no skid marks. The rear brakes of the bus were fully capable of leaving skid marks but none were at the scene, an indication that Rasmus came upon the semi and drove right into it, he said.
"If he would have made a hard emergency brake, the brakes in back would have locked up and left skid marks,' Rayburn said.
The NTSB reconstructed the accident scene Friday when it closed I-94 for about five hours and brought the semi back out to the scene. Chippewa Trails provided a bus similar to the one involved in the crash and drove it towards the semi under five different scenarios in an attempt to determine at what point Rasmus realized the highway was blocked, Rayburn said.
As best as a team of 17 accident reconstruction experts can determine, Rasmus would have been able to recognize an unidentified obstruction along the shoulder about 1,217 feet before the bus' impact with the semi, Rayburn said. Rasmus should have recognized a hazard at 480 feet and should have recognized that the hazard required light braking at 364 feet.
Investigators determined that under normal conditions Rasmus should have recognized the hazard needed a hard, emergency braking at 227 feet. But with faulty brakes and a driver who had been awake for 19 consecutive hours and was not wearing DOT-mandated corrective lenses, conditions may not have been normal. And it takes well over 300 feet for a bus to make an emergency stop with working brakes, he said.
Rayburn said Rasmus might also have been distracted by a piece of reflective tape that was on the semi near the right side of the road.
"He might have been drawn to it and not the obstruction in the road," Rayburn said. "All 17 investigators on the bus said it looked like a horse trailer or a utility trailer off to the side of the road."
Last week investigators said Kozlowski, who has seven months experience of over-the-road driving, was driving with a suspended license after failing to pay for a speeding ticket in Indiana.
On Monday, investigators revealed that Kozlowski's employer, Whole Foods of Munster, Ind., did not administer a pre-employment drug screening, something Rayburn called "an oversight." Kozlowski submitted to a post-accident urine test which showed that drugs and alcohol were not a factor in the crash.
A female bus passenger was awake on the bus at the time of the accident and witnessed the crash. She said she saw an object on the road, Rayburn said.
"She saw the bus driver tense up, apply the brakes and the collision occurred," Rayburn said.
A separate investigation being conducted by the Wisconsin State Patrol is continuing and will be completed in the next 10 to 16 days, said DOT spokesman Brent Pickard.
Once completed, the results of the investigation will be forwarded to Eau Claire County District Attorney Rich White, who will review investigation reports before determining whether to file criminal charges.
Killed in addition to Rasmus and Greenhalgh, 48, were Greenhalgh's wife, Therese, 51, and their granddaughter, Morgan Greenhalgh, 11. Student band teacher Branden Atherton, 24, was also killed in the crash.
Reach Jeffrey Hage at jeff.hage@lee.net.
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