1958 — Feb 28, school bus hits wrecker, goes into Levisa Fork riv., ~Prestonsburg, KY– 27

–27 AP. “15 bodies Recovered. 12 Still Missing in School Bus Tragedy.” Amarillo News, TX. 3-3-1958, p1.
–27 Kentucky National Guard History eMuseum. The Prestonsburg School Bus Disaster.
–27 Wikipedia. “Prestonsburg, Kentucky Bus Disaster.”

Narrative Information

Kentucky National Guard History: “The collision and plunge into a river involving a school bus near Prestonsburg, Kentucky on February 28, 1958 was the most disastrous bus accident in the history of the United States.

“On a cold and cloudy morning, after a period of heavy rains and thaw, a Floyd County school bus loaded with 48 elementary and high school students bound for school at Prestonsburg on U.S. Route 23 struck the rear of a wrecker truck and plunged down an embankment and into the swollen waters of the Levisa Fork of the Big Sandy River, where it was swept downstream and submerged.

“Twenty-Two children escaped the bus in the first few minutes as it became fully submerged in the raging flood stage waters and made it safely out of the river. However, 26 other children and the bus driver drowned. Kentucky National Guard and other authorities and agencies responded. The bus was finally located by Navy divers, and removed from the river 55 hours later.

“Over 500 Kentucky National Guardsmen were activated during the sixty-nine day search and recovery operation [Blanchard emphasis] for the victims of this tragic incident. Kentucky Guardsmen involved count the Prestonsburg Bus Tragedy as the grimmest state duty they ever performed. The accident drew nationwide sympathy for the parents of the children and respect for the stoic courage of the Prestonsburg people.

“Fifty years later, the 27 person death toll is tied with the Carrollton, Kentucky bus disaster in 1988 for the highest number of fatalities resulting from a bus accident. Both accidents occurred in Kentucky and in each, the victims were all thought to have survived the initial collisions, but were unable to safely evacuate the school-type buses afterwards. After the 1988 accident, Kentucky changed its public school bus equipment requirements and requires a higher number of emergency exits than any other state in the country.” (Kentucky National Guard. 50th Anniversary Remembrance, 1958-2008, The Prestonsburg School Bus Disaster, 28 February – 10 May 1958. 2008, p. 4.)

Newspapers

Feb 28, AP: “Prestonsburg, Ky. (AP) – A school bus carrying an estimated 38 children struck an automobile wrecker, side swiped an automobile, then plunged into the Levisa fork of the Big Sandy River near here today. State police feared at least 20 children and the bus driver, John Alex Derossett, were trapped in 30 feet of water. Sixteen others were known to have escaped through a rear door. Six were hospitalized.

“The National Safety Council said it ‘undoubtedly’ is the worst school bus crash in its history. The Council explained this was an opinion because it does not keep statistics by type of bus. The council said the worst bus accident on record was one that killed 28 persons near Waco, Tex., in August, 1952, when two buses collided.

“More than six hours after the accident on U.S. 23, rescue workers still were unable to locate the bus. Small boats cruised the area searching for bodies.

“ ‘I was sitting directly behind the driver when we went into the water,’ said Isaac Vanderpool, one of the survivors. ‘Some little kid opened the emergency door and we began scrambling outside. Vanderpool, who estimated the bus contained 38 passengers including himself, said the ‘last thing I saw was the driver sitting behind the wheel. I don’t think he hot out.’

“The driver of the wrecker, Donald L. Horn, said he answered a call to pull a truck out of a ditch on the side of the road opposite the stream. ‘I was trying to pull it across the highway,’ he continued, ‘when the bus rounded a curve and struck my wrecker from the rear.’ Horn said the bus then veered into a parked car and headed for the river.

“Most of the youngsters aboard were high school students from the Cow Creek area – a mining community in southern Floyd County. The bus also was bringing a number of children to the elementary schools at Prestonsburg about 82 miles south-west of Huntington, W. Va.

“Levisa Fork, where the bus sank is 20 feet above normal stage, because of heavy rains the past two days….

“They [State Police] said the us after rolling to the edge of the bank, halted momentarily, then rolled into the water. Youngsters began scrambling ashore. The last girl out managed to save herself by grabbing the foot of a man on the bank.” (Associated Press. “21 Drown as School Bus Dives Into River.” Star-News, Pasadena, CA. 2-28-1958, pp. 1 and 3.)

March 1, AP: “Prestonsburg, Ky. (AP) – The bodies of 23 school children and their bus driver lay trapped today somewhere beneath the rain-swollen waters of Big Sandy River in mountainous eastern Kentucky. Dragging operations resumed at dawn in an effort to find the bus which plunged into the Levisa Fork of the river yesterday….All the children in at least three families died in the tragedy, which the National Safety Council called the worst highway accident involving children in the nation’s history….” (Associated Press. “Bodies of Children, Driver Are Still Trapped in Bus.” The Progress, Clearfield, PA. 3-1-1958, p. 1.)

March 1, AP: “Prestonsburg, Ky., March 1 (AP) – U.S. Navy frogmen from Norfolk, Va., will fly to join search operations in the muddy depths of a swollen mountain stream hiding a school bus with the bodies of possibly 26 students and the driver aboard. Lt. John Mundy, U.S. Coast Guard officer directing the search said the search for the bus in the Levisa Fork of the Big Sandy River would continue into the night if necessary. Two civilian divers, Carlton Hardley and Jack North of Huntington, W.Va. already have been on the bottom but have been unable to locate the bus which plunged into the river early yesterday after hitting a wrecker truck and an automobile.

“….Gov. A.B. Chandler arrived at the scene and immediately arranged for a meeting with townspeople.

“A revised, unofficial list said 21 students scrambled to safety before the bus was washed away.

“Twice radio-equipped boats sweeping the river with grappling hooks thought they had fund the bus. Each time the object was swept away. It was feared the powerful current was tumbling the bus downstream….

“The driver of the wrecker, Donald Horn, said ‘all the children could have been saved, but they jammed up in the door, screaming and struggling to get out. Then the bus slid into deep water.’….

“Bennie Blackburn, an eyewitness to the tragedy, said the bus ‘didn’t slow up as it went by. I didn’t see any brake lights, and I still didn’t see any brake lights when the bus started over the embankment.’ Those who escaped scrambled out an emergency door and a window roiled down by David Wright, 15, who said: ‘I pulled two girls out with me.’….” (Associated Press. “Navy Frogmen Called to Search For Sunken School Bus, Children…Possibly 26 Lost On River’s Bottom near Prestonsburg.” Bluefield Daily Telegraph, WV, 3-2-1958, p. 1.)

March 2, AP: “Prestonsburg, Ky., March 2 (AP) – The mud-covered bodies of 14 youngsters and the driver of their school bus were pulled from the Big Sandy River today, as parents and neighbors stood by, silent and self-controlled. The search for 12 other children missing sine Friday when the bus crashed into the rain-swollen Levisa Fork will continue tomorrow. The bodies were taken to a hurriedly rigged morgue at the Prestonsburg armory, about four miles from the grim death scene….

“The bus was found 200 yards downstream from where it plunged into the river Friday morning…The motor had been pushed back into the front end of the vehicle….

“Corps of Engineers and Navy men combing the river on a barge with electric sounding equipment caught sight of a body beneath the surface. Then they saw the bus. The body was that of James Thomas Ousley, 15. It was hanging part way out a window of the bus, which was mired facing the far shore on a sand bar 7 or 8 feet from the edge of the river. The water there was 10 feet deep. It had fallen about 8 feet in 24 hours.

“Leonard E. Hopkins, one of four Navy divers sent to help from the Norfolk, Va., naval air station, fastened hooks and wires to the bus and the tense effort to pull it out with bulldozers began. Once the bus was partway out of the water the bulldozers lost footing, and the bus fell back. The effort began again. This time it was successful.

“The bodies were found covered with mud from the river bottom, against the left side of the bus lying on its side. Men lifted out the first 10 bodies gently. They had to call for shovels to dig through mud to reach the remaining five. The task of removing the bodies took an hour and 45 minutes. John Derossett, 27, driver of the bus, was the first removed.

“The search for missing bodies spread downstream 40 miles to Louisa, where Levisa Fork runs into the Big Sandy River….The Coast Guard suspended weighted nets from a bridge four miles downstream at West Prestonsburg to catch any bodies carried away by the current….” (AP. “15 bodies recovered. 12 still missing in school bus tragedy.” Amarillo Daily News, TX. 3-3-1958, p1.)

March 4, AP: “Prestonsburg, Ky. (AP) – Volunteers manned boats, stood vigil on river banks and joined Navy divers and National Guardsmen in a search for 11 still-missing children in a watery grave in Levisa Fork of the Big Sandy River….Only one body was found Monday [March 3]. It was believed recovery of the others would be slow….” (Associated Press. “Volunteers Join Divers In Search For 112 Dead.” The Portsmouth Times, OH. 3-4-1958, p. 1.)

March 5, AP: “Prestonsburg, Ky., March 4 (AP) – Searchers found the bodies of three more victims of a school bus tragedy today including one which drifted into the heart of this grief stricken city. The body of Joyce Ann Mattney, 14, of Emma, Ky., was spotted in the Big Sandy River behind the old National Bank building here. Prestonsburg is two miles downstream from the spot where the school bus careened into the river last Friday, carrying 26 school children and the driver to their deaths. The bodies of Emogene Darby, 17…and Marcella Jarvis were found floating 1½ miles downstream from the wreck scene. The bodies of eight other children still are missing.” (AP. “Bodies Of Three More School Bus Victims Found.” Cumberland News, MD. 3-5-1958, p.1.)

Sources

Associated Press. “15 bodies Recovered. 12 Still Missing in School Bus Tragedy.” Amarillo Daily News, TX. 3-3-1958, p. 1. Accessed 2-4-2023 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/amarillo-daily-news-mar-03-1958-p-1/

Associated Press. “21 Drown as School Bus Dives Into River.” Star-News, Pasadena, CA. 2-28-1958, p. 1. Accessed 2-4-2023 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/star-news-feb-28-1958-p-1/

Associated Press. “Bodies of Children, Driver Are Still Trapped in Bus.” The Progress, Clearfield, PA. 3-1-1958, 1. Accessed 2-3-2023 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/clearfield-progress-mar-01-1958-p-1/

Associated Press. “Bodies Of Three More School Bus Victims Found.” Cumberland News, MD. 3-5-1958, p.1. Accessed 2-4-2023 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/cumberland-news-mar-05-1958-p-1/

Associated Press. “Navy Frogmen Called to Search For Sunken School Bus, Children…Possibly 26 Lost On River’s Bottom near Prestonsburg.” Bluefield Daily Telegraph, WV, 3-2-1958, p. 1. Accessed 2-4-2023 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/bluefield-daily-telegraph-mar-02-1958-p-1/

Associated Press. “Volunteers Join Divers In Search For 112 Dead.” The Portsmouth Times, OH. 3-4-1958, p.1. Accessed 2-4-2023 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/portsmouth-times-mar-04-1958-p-1/

Kentucky National Guard History eMuseum. The Prestonsburg School Bus Disaster. May 29, 2008. Accessed at: http://kynghistory.ky.gov/history/4qtr/addinfo/pburgbusdisaster.htm

Wikipedia. “Prestonsburg, Kentucky Bus Disaster.” Accessed at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prestonsburg_bus_disaster