CHP to review video to probe Anaheim Hills school bus crash

Investigators looking into a school bus crash in Anaheim Hills that sent five students and the driver to the hospital will use video footage from inside the bus in an effort to determine what caused the accident.

Florentino Olivera, spokesman for the California Highway Patrol, which is leading the investigation into Thursday’s crash, said the cameras could provide crucial information.

“Hopefully the video camera is pointed at the driver so we can see what he was doing before the crash,” Olivera said.

Pam McDonald, director of transportation at Orange Unified School District, said a bus the size of the one that crashed would have three cameras installed inside, however none of them are pointed at the driver. One is pointed down the stairwell and the other two are pointed at students.

The bus, carrying 11 El Rancho Charter School students, wasn’t equipped with a “black box,” McDonald said.

Olivera noted there were no skid marks at the scene, which could mean the driver didn’t hit the brakes or that the brakes weren’t working.

The 2011 model bus, capable of holding 78 passengers, passed a CHP inspection in October and another by a school district mechanic on April 8.

About 3:37 p.m. the Orange Unified School District bus was traveling north on Nohl Ranch Road, south of Walnut Canyon Road, when it drove up a dirt embankment on the side of the road. It sheared off a tree and and came to a rest against another.

Authorities said they don’t know how fast the bus was going at the time of the crash. Witnesses said the bus swerved and appeared to pick up speed moments before the accident.

Five of the 11 El Rancho Charter School students were taken to nearby hospitals, two of them were in critical condition and three sustained minor injuries. The six remaining students were released at the scene to family or friends, Olivera said.

Those who helped students get out of the bus through an emergency exit said some had scrapes and bruises on their heads, while others complained of neck pain or cuts to their face.

The two students who were critically injured remained hospitalized Friday, but were listed as being in moderate condition, Olivera said.

The driver, Gerald Rupple, 24, had to be extricated from the bus by firefighters, who pulled him out of the front end of the vehicle. He was taken to UC Irvine Medical Center in critical condition but was able to give a statement to investigators hours after the accident.

Olivera declined to say what Rupple said during his interview.

Rupple started as a part-time driver in 2007 and became a full-time employee with the school district in 2010, officials said.

School bus drivers in California must pass a medical examination every two years unless the driver is 65 or older.

Rupple completed traffic school for a 2006 speeding ticket, according to Orange County court records. In 2007 he was cited for not wearing a seat belt and in 2008 he corrected a fix-it ticket for an obstructed license plate.

In 2011 Rupple and his father were commended by Rick Ledesma, then Orange Unified School District Board president, for helping evacuate a group of students and their chaperones who were aboard the Ocean Institute’s tall ship in Dana Point when a tsunami warning was issued.

According to minutes from the meeting in which the two were recognized, 77 students, three teachers and 10 parents were successfully evacuated.

adolfo.flores@latimes.com
Twitter: @AdolfoFlores3