Investigators Working To Get To The Bottom Of What Caused Fatal Bus Crash
BALTIMORE (WJZ/AP) - Investigators hope an autopsy, a survivor and recording equipment will help explain why a school bus slammed into a commuter bus in Baltimore, killing six people.
We learned today that surveillance video captured the school bus after it made the initial impact with the Ford Mustang and then showed it careening seemingly out of control down Frederick Avenue, where it hit the MTA Bus.
The investigation into the Frederick Avenue bus collision will take weeks, with ongoing parallel investigations by the NTSB and Baltimore City Police.
One focus will be the school bus that may not have seen the stop before hitting the MTA bus.
Accident reconstructionist Gary Louis has been involved in similar investigations and cautions against speculation.
"They're going to pull maintenance records from the bus shop," said Lewis.
"When was the last time the brakes were checked? When was the last time the tires were done? When was the last preventative maintenance overall done on this vehicle?"
The questions police want to answer about the school bus include: was there a mechanical issue? Did the driver suffer a medical problem?
The medical examiner will perform an autopsy on the driver, 67-year-old Glenn Chappell.
Chappell had several traffic-related cases on his record.
"They're going to look at the driver's history; not just driving history, but health history, the last hours before the wreck, 24 hours before the wreck, maybe a week before the wreck or a month," said Lewis.
The crash killed six including Chappell, and MTA bus driver Ebonee Baker, a mother of four.
Police are also reviewing audio and video recordings and examining the wreckage, and the black boxes of each bus.
"Throttle, acceleration, RPMs, braking. There's a lot of parameters that some [black boxes] capture, some don't," said Lewis.
NTSB investigators recovered video from a Saint Joseph's Monastery security camera, showing the school bus moments before the collision. Both buses are now being held in a secure lot, not far from the crash scene.
"We want to get answers for the family members of the 16 victims on these buses," said Baltimore Police spokesman T.J. Smith.
AA Affordable Transportation operated the school bus and NTSB investigators were back at the company's Baltimore office today.
Smith says a female aide who was the only other person aboard the school bus, survived with minor injuries.
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