A TRUCK DRIVER EXPLAINS
THE MOMENTS HE WAS
HEADING RIGHT INTO A
GREYHOUND BUS FULL OF
PASSENGER ON I-40
BETWEEN GALLUP AND
GRANTS.
rudy chavez/friend: he
had a very unique way of
making you laugh.
49-YEAR-OLD LUIS ALVAREZ
WAS DRIVING THE BUS FROM
SAINT LUIS TO
L-A.
HE WAS ONE OF EIGHT
PEOPLE KILLED.
4.40 val: I miss
everything. I just miss
her. 4.44
A FARMINGTON WOMAN...A
BUS PASSENGER... ALSO
DIED.
Pete Kotowski, NTSB
Investigator in Charge:
Our investigation is a
safety investigation to
determine
what happened and why it
happened.
NOW FEDERAL
INVESTIGATORS ARE
LOOKING FOR ANSWERS.
OUR COVERAGE STARTS
NOW.
GOOD EVENING.
TONIGHT THE TRUCK DRIVER
SAYS THE CRASH WAS
UNAVOIDABLE.
NOW THE STATE POLICE AND
THE N- T-S-B ARE TRYING
TO FIGURE OUT IF
THAT )S TRUE.
NEWS 13 )S MARISSA LUCERO
IS LIVE IN THE NEWSROOM
WITH THE LATEST ON
THE INVESTIGATION,
MARISSA.
DEAN -- JESS,
THE DRIVER OF THAT
TRACTOR TRAILER LIVED
... AND TODAY HE
TALKED ABOUT THE MOMENTS
LEADING UP TO AND AFTER
THE CRASH ...
SAYING HE THOUGHT HE WAS
GOING TO DIE.
1:08Semi Driver/Elisara
Taito"I was conscious
for the whole thing"
1:11 FROM HIS HOSPITAL
BED ...
THE DRIVER OF THE SEMI
RECALLED THE MOMENTS
BEFORE HE CROSSED THE
MEDIAN CRASHING ... HEAD
ON INTO A GREYHOUND BUS
HEADED WEST ON I-
40... CARRYING 47
PASSENGERS.
00:06Semi Driver/Elisara
Taito"I blew a steer,
one of the front tires
of my truck, and then it
just locked up."
00:16
IT HAPPENED YESTERDAY
AFTERNOON ... RIGHT
OUTSIDE
THOREAU, NEW MEXICO.
DRIVERS PULLED OVER AND
RUSHED TO HELP RESCUE
THE PASSENGERS
THEY COULD GET TO.
00:12:56Chief Pete
Kassetas"In the metro
area and there )s a crash
there )s a lot of
resources that
respond and you know
that, in rural New
Mexico, where I )ve
worked for 25 years,
it )s a different beast
so to
speak."00:13:10
TODAY ... STATE POLICE
CHIEF PETE KASSETAS ...
SAYS AT ONE POINT THEY
RAN OUT OF AMBULANCES.
THE TRACTOR-TRAILER
HAULING PRODUCE STARTED
IN CALIFORNIA AND
WAS HEADED TO TENNESSEE
... WHEN THE
FRONT-DRIVER-SIDE TIRE
BLEW.
00:43Semi Driver/Elisara
Taito"I seen it soon as
it locked up, I seen
where I was going right
away, so I
was just trying
everything I could to
avoid it..." 00:52
00:11:08Chief Pete
Kassetas"An 80,000 lb
projectile and
encountered the
bus..."00:11:12
THE CRASH KILLED 8
PEOPLE... INCLUDING THE
DRIVER OF THE BUS. CHIEF
KASSETAS SAYS IT WAS ONE
OF THE WORST SCENES HIS
OFFICERS HAVE
EVER SEEN.
00:07:15Chief Pete
Kassetas"I )ll point out
that seconds really
matter here. What I mean
by that is, the
impact with the tractor
trailer and the bus was
at the front of the bus,
a few more seconds and
it would
have been in the middle
of the bus and I think
it would have been much
more
catastrophic."00:07:30
Dahler: is there
anything that you want
to say to these
families?
driver: i am sorry, i
don )t know if there is
anything i can do to
change it, i would, i
can )t.
THE TRACTOR TRAILER WAS
WITH JAG TRANSPORTATION
OUT OF FRESNO,
CALIFORNIA
THE DRIVER IS ALSO
LICENSED OUT OF
CALIFORNIA. CHIEF
KASSETAS SAYS HE (COULD
FACE CHARGES ...
DEPENDING ON THE
OUTCOME OF THE
INVESTIGATION.
N-T-S-B INVESTIGATORS
WERE AT THE CRASH SITE
TODAY-- TRYING
TO FIGURE OUT WHAT WENT
WRONG.
THEY )RE NOT ONLY LOOKING
AT HOW THE TIRE BLEW
OUT, THEY )LL LOOK FOR
OTHER MECHNICAL
FAILURES, ROAD
CONDITIONS, AND WHETHER
THE
DRIVER WAS FATIGUED OR
SPEEDING.
"We address three main
things that are involved
in all crashes, that is
the people involved, the
environment and the
vehicles."
LEAD INVESTIGATOR PETE
KOTOWSKI SAYS HIS TEAM
IS ALREADY REVIEWING THE
SAFETY POLICIES OF BOTH
COMPANIES INVOLVED.
WHAT )S LEFT OF THE TRUCK
AND BUS WERE TOWED TO
THE THE GALLUP
PORT OF ENTRY.
TOMORROW THEY )LL START A
MORE THOROUGH
INVESTIGATION WITH
10 INVESTIGATORS AND THE
HELP OF STATE POLICE.
STATE POLICE SAY THAT
AREA OF I-40 HAS NO
BARRIERS BETWEEN LANES
AND SAY NOT MUCH COULD
HAVE STOPPED THE SEMI
FROM CROSSING
THE 50-FOOT MEDIAN.
"Ususally with a normal
vehicle with a 50 foot
lane at times with the
action of the vehicle it
would have come to a
stop in that lane, but
80,000 pounds of tractor
trailer is hard to
control."
TONIGHT FRIENDS ARE
REMEMBERING THE
GREYHOUND BUS DRIVER
FROM
SANTA TERESA, WHO WAS
KILLED.
WE ALSO SPOKE WITH A
DAUGHTER... WHO IS
MISSING HER MOTHER
TONIGHT.
THE FARMINGTON WOMAN
ALSO DIED IN THE CRASH.
rudy chavez/friend: he
had a very unique way of
making you laugh....if
you met him once, you
would always
remember him.
LUIS ALVAREZ FROM SANTA
TERESA WAS
DRIVING THE GREYHOUND
BUS.
HIS FRIEND RUDY CHAVEZ
TONIGHT SAYS... ALVAREZ
WAS A ROLE MODEL
DRIVER... WITH A GREAT
DRIVING RECORD.
BUT, FAMILY CAME FIRST.
CHAVEZ SAYS HE HAD
TALKED TO ALVAREZ
EARLIER YESTERDAY...WHO
PLANNING HIS DAUGHTER )S
QUINCEANERA.
ALVAREZ WAS 49.
4.40 val: I miss
everything. I just miss
her. 4.44
VALORA THOMAS SAYS HER
MOTHER,
50-YEAR-OLD SADIE THOMAS
OF FARMINGTON... WAS A
PASSENGER WHO DIED.
SHE WAS ALMOST TO HER
DESTINATION OF GALLUP
AFTER A QUICK TRIP TO
OKLAHOMA.
1.00 her grandkids were
just everything to her..
she goes out of her way
for them.
SHE SAYS HER MOTHER...
WAS A STRONG WOMAN...
WONDERFUL WIFE,
GREAT MOTHER TO THREE...
AND THE BEST GRANDMOTHER
TO TEN KIDS. BUT, SHE
WON )T GET TO MEET HER
GRANDSON...WHO WAS BORN
YESTERDAY.
she )s always there...
and now she )s not.
STATE POLICE TELL US
THAT THE BUS HAD JUST
STOPPED IN GRANTS WHERE
IT DROPPED OFF ONE
PASSENGER
WE ALSO KNOW THAT PEOPLE
DID GET ON THAT L-A
BOUND BUS IN
ALBUQUERUE -- BUT WE
DON )T KNOW HOW MANY --
OR IF THEY )RE OKAY.
OFFICIALS AT U-N-M
HOSPITAL SAY THEY ARE
TRYING TO IDENTIFY THE
OTHER
VICTIMS AS FAST AS THEY
CAN.
"We start with processes
that are scientifically
verifiable and rapid.
For example,
fingerprints, so all
of those fingerprints
are in the process of
being uploaded to the
FBI, the federal bureau
of
investigation. They will
compare them against
known databases,
criminal databases,
civilian databases and
get some hits."
THE BODIES OF THE THE
PASSENGERS WHO DIED WERE
SENT TO THE OFFICE
OF THE MEDICAL
INVESTIGATOR AT U-N-M.
26 PEOPLE WERE
INJURED... INCLUDING
FIVE CHILDREN AGES
THREE TO 15.
DOCTORS SAY TEN OF THEM
WERE TREATED AT U-N-M.
THE REST OF THE INJURED
ARE BEING TREATED AT
HOSPITALS IN
GRANTS AND GALLUP.
SOME UNDERWENT SURGERY.
DOCTORS SAY INJURIES
RANGED FROM HEAD TRAUMA
TO SPINE FRACTURES AND
BROKEN BONES. THEY
SAY THE VICTIMS ARE
LOOKING AT A LONG ROAD
TO RECOVERY.
TODAY STATE POLICE
THANKED THE DRIVERS WHO
TURNED INTO FIRST
RESPONDERS...CLIMBING
LADDERS WITH EMERGENCY
CREWS TO REACH
PASSENGERS STILL TRAPPED
INSIDE THE BUS.
5.56 Chief Kassetas: I
say motorists because
they )re heroes. They
stopped and wasted no
time extracting a
lot of the individuals
out of the bus,
administering first aid
and that saved lives.
CHRIS JONES SAYS HE
DROVE UP ON THE CRASH,
MISSING IT BY JUST A FEW
MINUTES. HE LEFT
HIS CAR IN THE MIDDLE OF
I-40 TO ROLL UP HIS
SLEEVES AND HELP.
"I don )t know exactly if
people were launched out
of the bus all I know is
there were people out of
the bus,
they were climbing out
of the bus, they
couldn )t get out fast
enough."
JONES SAYS HIS MEDICAL
TRAINING AS A NAVY
VETERAN AND VOLUNTEER
FIREFIGHTER KICKED IN.
TWO PASSENGERS HAVE
ALREADY FILED LAWSUITS
AGAINST THE FRESNO-BASED
TRUCKING COMPANY -- JAG
TRANSPORTATION.
THOSE WERE FILED BY THE
RON BELL LAW FIRM ON
BEHALF OF ONE
PASSENGERS FROM ARIZONA
AND ONE PASSENGER FROM
OHIO.
THE LAWSUITS CLAIM THE
TRUCK DRIVER FAILED TO
MAINTAIN THE TIRE
THAT BLEW OUT -- AND
FAILED TO CONTROL THE
TRUCK AFTER THE
BLOWOUT.
THEY PASSENGERS ARE
SEEKING MONETARY
DAMAGES.