About 1:55 p.m. July 15, 1970, a chartered tour bus carrying 53 school age children and their counselors on a sight-seeing trip into Pennsylvania was westbound on U.S. 22 (I-78) during a rainstorm. While traveling about 55 miles per hour on a slight curve to the right, the bus traversed a section of highway where excessive water flow was crossing the highway, producing 'hydroplaning' and loss of control. The bus skidded clockwise 180 degrees and into the cable-type guardrail, which failed to hold the bus, permitting it to roll (or vault) down a steep embankment with a 30-foot drop. In the crash, 18 occupants were ejected, resulting in death to seven students and varying injuries to some 47 other occupants. The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was either dynamic or viscous hydroplaning of the front wheels of the bus. (Author)
Chartered Bus Crash on U.S. Route 22 (Interstate 78), near New Smithville, Pennsylvania, July 15, 1970
1971
72 pages
Report
No indication
English
Online Contents | 1994