Dropped Thermos May Have Caused Deadly New York Bus Crash

NEW YORK (AP) — A freak accident involving a dropped thermos might have caused a bus crash that killed three people in New York City, federal safety investigators said Thursday. The National Transportation Safety Board said a thermal bottle could have gotten wedged in the brake and accelerator pedals of the charter bus at the center of the September 2017 crash, preventing the driver from braking. Investigators said they weren't sure the thermos got stuck but couldn't rule it out. Ultimately, they pegged the probable cause of the wreck as unintentional acceleration and an inability to brake "for reasons that could not be conclusively determined from the information available." Messages were left Thursday for the bus company, Dahlia Group Inc., and a lawyer who has represented it. The charter bus blew through a red light at a Queens intersection, slammed into a city bus, barreled across a sidewalk and hit a building, ripping the facade off a fried chicken restaurant and sparking a small fire. Charter bus driver Raymond Mong, pedestrian Henry Wdowiak and a passenger on the city bus, Gregory Liljefors, were killed. Sixteen other people were injured in the early-morning wreck on Sept. 18, 2017. It prompted scrutiny of the bus company's safety history and Wong's off-duty driving record, which had cost him a job as a city bus driver. The NTSB found no problems with the vehicle's accelerator or brake system, and no evidence that Wong's experience, training or activities b...
Source: JEMS: Journal of Emergency Medical Services News - Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Rescue & Vehicle Extrication News Operations Source Type: news