US Officials to Interview Bus Driver in NY Crash

VOA Breaking News (Voice of America)
March 14, 2011 at 10:35 pm

U.S. federal transportation officials say an interview is scheduled for Tuesday with the driver of a tour bus that flipped on its side and crashed into a New York City sign post, killing 15 people.

The vice chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, Christopher Hart, told reporters Monday that investigators are trying to determine what the driver did in the 72 hours prior to Saturday's accident. Hart also said authorities have made arrangements to speak with the driver of a tractor trailer that is reported to have been involved in the crash.

All the survivors of the bus were injured, some critically. Thirty-two people were aboard the vehicle, which was returning to the city from a trip to a casino in the neighboring state of Connecticut.

Hart said the bus was equipped with an engine control module that records various information about the bus's movements. He said that module has been sent to a Washington laboratory for analysis. Authorities also are trying to determine whether a forward-facing camera on the bus was operational at the time of the accident and if so, whether it recorded information that could help investigators determine what happened.

The NTSB official said a preliminary report on the accident is due in 30 days.