Greyhound Bus Crash Kills 7
A Greyhound bus slammed into a tractor-trailer parked along a mountainous section of the Pennsylvania Turnpike early Saturday, killing seven people including the bus driver who was on his last trip, as well as his wife and son. Eighteen others were injured.
Twenty-three people were on board the bus which was traveling to Pittsburgh from New York City when it veered off the rain-slick highway and hit the back of the truck at 4:18 a.m., state police Lt. Richard J. Kovalik said.
The road was wet from rain earlier in the morning, and police were still investigating what caused the fatal accident that industry officials are calling among the worst bus crashes in the nation's history.
"This is one of the more significant accidents this company and this industry has ever had," said Craig Lentzsch, chief executive officer of Greyhound.
Greyhound officials mourned the loss of the driver, Scott Wisner, 61, of Pittsburgh, who they described as "an experienced driver on a normal run," and the passengers.
"This is the saddest day of my 22 years in the bus business," said Lentzsch. "On behalf of everyone at Greyhound Lines, I want to express our sympathy to the passengers and our driver and their families."
The truck, owned by TransAm Trucking Inc.of Overland Park, Kan., was parked on a wide shoulder about one mile west of the Tuscarora Tunnel in Huntingdon County, about 130 miles east of Pittsburgh.
"It is common practice and completely legal for trucks to pull off the road and onto the shoulder," said Kovalik.
Two people were sleeping in the truck cab when it was hit, said Bill Capone, turnpike commission spokesman. They suffered minor injuries.
Responding to speculation that Wisner, a 10-year Greyhound veteran, may have fallen asleep at the wheel, Lentzsch said: "We follow rigidly and strictly the federal highway safety regulations which permit a driver to drive only 10 hours in a 24-hour period and 70 hours in an eight-day period." He said the bus company will conduct its own investigation of the accident.
Lentzsch said in the past three years only one passenger was killed in a Greyhound accident.
The names of the other dead and injured were unavailable. Police do not expect to identify the victims until as late as Monday.
"This is not like an airplane where you have to show ID," said Kovalik. "And the person who buys the ticket isn't necessarily on the bus."
Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board and the state police are reconstructing the accident at the scene and interviewing victims at hospitals.
Written by Peter Durantine