2012 — Dec 30, Road, Tourist Charter Bus Crash, icy I-84 near Pendleton, OR — 9
— 9 Associated Press. “Oregon bus crash like dream of ‘world ending’ survivor says.” 1-1-2013.
— 9 CBS News (AP). “Nine killed in Oregon tour bus crash.” 12-30-2012.
— 9 Cooper, Jonathan J. (AP). “9 die as tour bus crashes on icy Oregon highway.” 12-31-2012.
— 9 Kuruvilla, Carol. “Survivors recall terror after a bus crash…” NY Daily News, 1-1-2013.
— 9 NTSB. “NTSB launches investigators to bus accident in Oregon.” 12-31-2012 press release.
— 9 NTSB. “Safety Recommendation H-13-039 and -040.” Washington, DC: NTSB, 11-5-2013.
NTSB 2013 Annual Report: “The NTSB investigated four multiple-fatality commercial motor vehicle crashes between December 30, 2012, and June 13, 2013, that resulted in 25 deaths and injuries to 73 people. The crashes raised safety issues about the oversight of US motorcoach and trucking industry operations by the FMCSA.[1] The Pendleton, Oregon, motorcoach crash might have been prevented if FMCSA oversight of the motor carrier during the compliance review process had identified obvious safety problems that were enumerated in a postcrash imminent hazard order.” (NTSB. Annual Report to Congress. 2013 Annual Report. 4-13-2015 mod., p. 22.)
NTSB Safety Recommendation: “The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigated four recent commercial motor vehicle crashes that, together, resulted in 25 deaths and injuries to 8 3 people. The crashes all raised safety issues about the oversight of US motorcoach and trucking industry operations by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA)….The Pendleton , Oregon, motorcoach crash might have been prevented if FMCSA oversight of the motor carrier during the compliance review (CR) process had identified the safety problems that were subsequently enumerated in a postcrash imminent hazard order….
“Mi Joo Tour & Travel Crash in Pendleton, Oregon
“On Sunday, December 30, 2012, about 10:30 a.m. Pacific standard time (PST), a 1998 Prevost motorcoach, operated by the Canadian motor carrier Mi Joo Tour & Travel, was traveling westbound on Interstate 84, near Pendleton, Oregon. The motorcoach was on a trip from Las Vegas, Nevada, to Vancouver, British Columbia; on the day of the crash, it had departed from Boise, Idaho. Snow and ice had accumulated along the route, which traverses a rural area of the Blue Mountains. The motorcoach, upon encountering ice, slid off the roadway, struck a W-beam roadside barrier, went down an embankment, overturned, and came to rest upright at the bottom of the slope. As a result of the crash, 9 of the vehicle’s 47 occupants died. The driver and an additional 37 passengers were injured.[2]
“Postcrash investigation by NTSB investigators and the Oregon State Police determined that the motorcoach had been traveling too fast for the weather and roadway conditions. In addition, the driver was unsafely operating the motorcoach with the transmission retarder engaged,[3] and the motorcoach was equipped with a tire not properly speed-rated for highway operations.[4] The NTSB review of Mi Joo Tour & Travel and its driver determined that the driver was operating in violation of the 70-hour rule under federal HOS[5] regulations for passenger-carrying commercial motor vehicles at the time of the crash. The NTSB did not determine a probable cause for this crash; however, based on the driver’s HOS violation, fatigue may have contributed to his operational errors of traveling too fast for the road conditions and of [end of p. 2] leaving the transmission retarder engaged. Mi Joo Tour & Travel had previously been cited twice for Part 395 HOS violations; one of those violations resulted in an out-of-service (OOS) order.
“Mi Joo Tour & Travel had passed the US New Entrant Program safety audit in July 2007 and completed the program on August 20, 2008, at which time the Canadian company received permanent authority to operate in the United States. The FMCSA subsequently conducted CRs on Mi Joo Tour & Travel on July 13, 2010, and August 24, 2011. The 2010 CR resulted in a Conditional rating; the 2011 CR resulted in a Satisfactory rating. On the basis of the 2011 CR, the FMCSA issued Mi Joo Tour & Travel a Notice of Claim (NOC) fine of $2,000 for a driver violation. The company did not pay the NOC fine and on January 9, 2012, the FMCSA issued it
an OOS order. Mi Joo Tour & Travel then paid the fine, and the FMCSA rescinded the OOS order on March 27, 2012. Nine months later, the Pendleton, Oregon, crash occurred.
“The NTSB postcrash review of the motor carrier determined that Mi Joo Tour & Travel had no safety plan and no written policies or procedures — including no hiring procedures, no preventative maintenance program for its vehicles, no safety management review procedures for
monitoring driver hours of service, and no in-service training for its drivers. Following the crash
and the NTSB’s investigation of the motor carrier, the FMCSA conducted a CR on Mi Joo Tour & Travel, which was completed on January 17, 2013. As a result of the evidence obtained during the postcrash CR, the FMCSA put the company, the crash driver, and a second motorcoach driver on the trip out of service and determined that Mi Joo Tour & Travel was an imminent hazard to public safety. The FMCSA imminent hazard operations OOS order stated (in part) that the basis of the order was as follows:
Mi Joo Tour & Travel wholly fails to take basic measures to ensure that its drivers are properly rested for safe vehicle operations. MI JOO TOUR & TRAVEL fails to monitor and ensure that its drivers comply with drivers’ hours of service requirements, drivers’ records of duty status (RODS) requirements, and recordkeeping retention requirements, thereby posing a continuing imminent hazard….[6]
“Based on the CR records, the problems identified with Mi Joo Tour & Travel were longstanding and systemic, dating to when the company first began operations and passed the New Entrant Program safety audit in July 2007. The fact that Mi Joo Tour & Travel received a Satisfactory rating during its August 24, 2011, CR raises serious concerns regarding the thoroughness of the FMCSA CR process. This 2011 CR noted only two violations of 49 CFR Part 396 — in the vehicle maintenance and inspection categories — and neither of those violations were classified as “critical” or “acute”; consequently, the violations did not count toward the carrier’s rating. However, the postcrash CR noted the following deficiencies with respect to the carrier’s operation:
- Continued noncompliance with drug and alcohol testing requirements,
- No postcrash controlled substance testing,
- Failure to maintain driver qualification requirements,
- Failure to comply with the HOS regulations,
- Failure to properly maintain commercial motor vehicles,
- Failure to require drivers to properly prepare driver inspection reports,
- Continued operation while under an OOS order.
“Some of the issues involved in the Pendleton crash, such as unsafe speed, improper use of a transmission retarder under slippery roadway conditions, vehicle equipment deficiencies, and possible driver fatigue connected to driving in violation of HOS regulations, can be directly attributed to poor safety management on the part of Mi Joo Tour & Travel. This fatal crash might
have been prevented if the FMCSA had exercised more effective federal oversight of the carrier during the CR process. The FMCSA should have identified the safety problems enumerated in the postcrash imminent hazard order before the crash occurred, during the CRs conducted in July
2010 and August 2011, and required corrective action or put Mi Joo Tour & Travel out of business before the crash took place in 2012.” [p. 4] (NTSB. “Safety Recommendation H-13-039 and -040.” Washington, DC: NTSB, 11-5-2013.)
CBS News/AP: “Le Grande, Ore. A tour bus careened through a guardrail along an icy Oregon highway and several hundred feet down a steep embankment Sunday, killing nine people and injuring more than 20 others, authorities said. The charter bus carrying about 40 people lost control around 10:30 a.m. on the snow- and ice-covered lanes of Interstate 84 [along Columbia River Gorge], according to the Oregon State Police. The bus came to rest at the bottom of a snowy slope….
“Lt. Greg Hastings said the bus crashed along the west end of the Blue Mountains, and west of an area called Deadman Pass. Stretches of highway in the rural and agricultural area of east Oregon tend to be icy in winter months….
“St. Anthony Hospital in Pendleton treated 26 people from the accident, including some who were treated and then transported to other medical facilities, said hospital spokesman Larry Blanc. In addition to the people who were transferred from St. Anthony to La Grand and Hermiston, Ore., and Walla Walla, Wash., Hastings said. Others were taken directly to hospitals further away, including Boise, Idaho, and Portland, Ore….
“Umatilla County Emergency Manager Jack Remillard said the bus was owned by Mi Joo travel in Vancouver, B.C., and state police said the bus was en route from Las Vegas to Vancouver….A bus safety website run by the U.S. Department of Transportation said Mi Joo Tour & Travel has six buses, none of which have been involved in any accidents in at least the past two years.” (CBS News (AP). “Nine killed in Oregon tour bus crash.” 12-30-2012.)
Cooper (AP): “Pendleton, Ore. (AP) — The stretch of rural Oregon interstate where a tour bus crashed through a guardrail and plummeted 100 feet down a steep embankment is so notorious that state transportation officials have published a specific advisory warning of its dangers….
“The bus crashed near the start of a 7-mile section of road winding down a hill. It came to rest at the bottom of a snowy slope, landing beaten and battered but upright with little or no debris visible around the crash site….
“Lt. Gregg Hastings said the bus crashed along the west end of the Blue Mountains, and west of an area called Deadman Pass. The area is well known locally for its hazards, and the state transportation department advises truck drivers that “some of the most changeable and severe weather conditions in the Northwest” can lead to slick conditions and poor visibility. Drivers are urged to use “extreme caution and defensive driving techniques,” and warned that snow and black ice are common in the fall through the spring….” (Cooper, Jonathan J. (AP). “9 die as tour bus crashes on icy Oregon highway.” 12-31-2012.)
Kuruvilla: “….The charter bus was traveling on the left lane of Interstate 84 near a spot called Deadman’s Pass, in Oregon’s Blue Mountain range. There were 48 people were on board, many of them South Korean nationals who were returning from a tour of Western United States. The bus was on its way from Las Vegas to Vancouver when it hit the median, slid across several lanes, rammed straight through the guardrail and over the edge of the mountain. It rolled at least once before coming to a stop. Some of the passengers on board were ejected from their seats….
“The passengers ranged in age from 7 to 74. All nine of those who died were adults. Authorities are still struggling to identify some of the victims or find their relatives in South Korea. 39 people were taken to 10 hospitals in three different states. Some spoke limited English, according to the Oregonian, and many had left their passports in the snow during the rescue effort….
“One survivor told the Oregonian that the driver was ‘going too fast.’….
“The National Transportation Safety Board has sent two investigators to investigate the crash. The driver has been identified as a 54-year-old man from Vancouver. It could take more than a month to determine whether or not he should be held responsible for the crash, said Oregon State Police Lt. Gregg Hastings.” (Kuruvilla, Carol. “Survivors recall terror after a bus crash in Oregon’s Blue Mountain range kills 9.” New York Daily News, 1-1-2013.)
AP: “Pendleton, Ore. — …. Oregon State Police on Tuesday identified one of the nine victims as a 57-year-old Washington man. Authorities said Dale William Osborn of Spanaway was killed in the Sunday crash and his wife, Sue Osborn, remained hospitalized in Pendleton, about 200 miles east of Portland. Authorities have not yet released the names of the other eight people who died, but police said all are of Asian descent, including four men and four women….
“The crash occurred near a spot on the interstate called Deadman Pass, at the top of a steep, seven-mile descent from the Blue Mountains. Though there were icy spots where the crash occurred, that was nothing unusual for this time of year, said…a spokesman for the Oregon Department of Transportation. He said a sanding truck had applied sand a few hours earlier and was behind the bus making another run when the crash occurred. The sand truck driver was among the first at the scene….
“The NTSB said two investigators were expected to arrive at the crash site. They will look into why the bus left the road, the condition of the road at the time, the condition of the guardrail, the actions of the driver, and the operations of the company that owns the bus, the agency said.
“Yoo Byung Woo, a 25-year-old survivor, said it was snowing and foggy at the time. She told the Oregonian newspaper that one passenger was frightened and asked if they could take another route. Some passengers were dozing when the driver slammed on the brakes. Yoo said rocks smashed through windows after the bus crashed through the guardrail and rolled down….
“A spokesman for the NTSB, Peter Knudson, said seatbelts aren’t required on such buses. “We have been concerned about this for some time,” Knudson said….
“Jake Contor, a Pendleton resident who speaks Korean and helped translate for the Red Cross, said he had spoken with several survivors. “The stories have been fairly consistent: braking, swerving, sliding on the ice, hitting the guardrail, then sliding down the embankment,” Contor said. He said the passengers told him the bus left Boise, Idaho, on Sunday morning and was supposed to arrive in Vancouver that night. The survivors who spoke to Contor were seated at the back of the bus and said it appeared that the front and center of the coach sustained the most damage. The interstate links Boise and Portland through the Blue Mountains and the Columbia Gorge.” (AP. “Oregon bus crash like dream of ‘world ending’ survivor says.” 1-1-2013.)
Sources
Associated Press. “Oregon bus crash like dream of ‘world ending’ survivor says.” 1-1-2013. At: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/01/01/police-identify-1-bus-crash-victim-as-washington-man/
CBS News (AP). “Nine killed in Oregon tour bus crash.” 12-30-2012. Accessed 12-30-2012 at: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57561285/nine-killed-in-oregon-tour-bus-crash/
Cooper, Jonathan J. (AP). “9 die as tour bus crashes on icy Oregon highway.” 12-31-2012. Accessed 12-31-2012: http://news.yahoo.com/9-die-tour-bus-crashes-icy-oregon-highway-082538651.html
Kuruvilla, Carol. “Survivors recall terror after a bus crash in Oregon’s Blue Mountain range kills 9.” New York Daily News, 1-1-2013. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/bus-crash-oregon-kills-9-article-1.1231117?localLinksEnabled=false
National Transportation Safety Board. Annual Report to Congress – 2013 Annual Report. Washington, DC: NTSB, 4-13-2015 modification. Accessed 6-4-2015 at: http://www.ntsb.gov/about/reports/Documents/2013AnnualReport.pdf
National Transportation Safety Board. “NTSB launches investigators to bus accident in Oregon.” Press release, 12-31-2012. Accessed 1-1-2013 at: http://www.ntsb.gov/news/2012/121231.html
National Transportation Safety Board. “Safety Recommendation H-13-039 and -040.” Washington, DC: NTSB, 11-5-2013, 14 pages. Accessed 6-4-2015 at: http://www.ntsb.gov/safety/safety-recs/RecLetters/H-13-039-040.pdf
[1] Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
[2] NTSB footnote 4: See HWY-13-FH-005 for more information.
[3] NTSB footnote 5: “The motorcoach was equipped with an Allison automatic transmission retarder to help slow the vehicle, thereby reducing the need to use the wheel brakes. Guidance from the Commercial Driver’s License Manual cautions that ‘When your drive wheels have poor traction, the retarder may cause them to skid. Therefore, you should turn the retarder off whenever the road is wet, icy, or snow covered.’ (American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, Commercial Driver’s License Manual, 2006, p. 2-10.)”
[4] NTSB footnote 6 notes that “one tire…was speed-rated for 55 mph.”
[5] Hours of Service. NTSB footnote 7 notes “Title 49 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 395.5(b)(2) prohibits driving after 70 hours of on-duty time in a consecutive 8-day period if the employing motor carrier operates passenger-carrying commercial motor vehicles every day of the week.”
[6] NTSB footnote 9: “See Imminent Hazard Operations Out-of-Service Order WA-2013-5000-IMH, issued January 8, 2013.”