Hearing Set on Palm Springs Bus Crash
The National Transportation Safety Board said Wednesday that it will hold a formal hearing on the Palm Springs bus crash in July that killed seven people and injured 47 others, most of them Girl Scouts.
The two-day hearing, which will begin Oct. 31, is designed to help board investigators unearth more information about the accident and to air safety issues before the public, a spokesman said.
The safety board convenes hearings only on those accidents involving issues of broad public concern, board spokesman Ted Lopatkiewicz said.
The July 31 wreck occurred when a bus operated by Mayflower Contract Services plunged off a steep roadway and into a rocky gully during a Girl Scout outing.
A Palm Springs police investigation found that the vehicle’s front brakes were badly out of adjustment, but concluded that a more experienced driver probably would have been able to bring the bus down the hill safely.
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