Fatal bus crash: With black boxes damaged, CHP to recreate collision
The California Highway Patrol will use a full-size tour bus and FedEx truck Thursday afternoon to recreate the fiery collision on Interstate 5 that killed 10 people and left dozens more wounded last week.
The reenactment is part of a series of tests the CHP is conducting to determine why the FedEx truck barreled across a grassy median and hit a bus loaded with Southern California high school students en route to Humboldt State.
Both drivers died in the crash, along with three adult chaperons and five high school students.
Both vehicles had black box-like data recorders on board, but they were badly burned, CHP Capt. Todd Morrison said during a news conference.
“I’m not sure we’re going to be able to retrieve the data we need,” Morrison said. “That’s part of the reason we’re doing this testing today.”
Investigators will drive the camera-equipped vehicles along a stretch of I-5 near the scene of the crash in an effort to determine what each driver saw as they approached each other, and will also conduct speed, skid and brake tests, Morrison said.
Investigators will also examine cellphone records of both drivers around the time of the crash, as well as driving records, maintenance logs and any possible recalls of parts for either vehicle.
Morrison said both companies were being “extremely cooperative” in the probe.
Officials with the CHP and National Transportation Safety Board, who are conducting “parallel” investigations into the incident, said it could be months before a cause is determined.
“We do not speculate on the cause of the collision until we have reviewed all the facts, listened to all the statements, and analyzed all the statements and evidence,” said CHP Northern Division Chief Ruben Leal. “We owe to the families of the involved parties and the victims of this tragic collision that we tell the story of what happened, and that we tell it as accurately as possible.”
As the investigation continued, families mourned the victims this week, some holding vigils to commemorate their memory.
Glenn County Sheriff-Coroner Larry Jones said most of the 10 victims had to be identified using dental records. As of Thursday afternoon, two had yet to be positively identified.
Among those most recently identified on Wednesday were Jennifer Bonilla, a 17-year-old student at Dorsey High School, and Denise Gomez, an 18-year-old senior at Animo Charter High School in Inglewood.
No cause of death has been determined, Jones said, and the results of toxicology reports ordered for all the bodies could take weeks to come in.
Twitter: @cmaiduc
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