The National Transportation Safety Board has opened an investigation into the I-90 tour bus crash that killed five people and injured dozens more on Friday, NTSB officials told reporters Saturday.
NTSB investigators started working on Friday and have zeroed in on driver performance and seatbelt usage as focuses of their inquiry. The investigation will also examine other safety factors that may have contributed to the accident, including highway design and signage, the tour company’s safety policies and the emergency response to the accident.
“It’s in bad shape, but it does appear to us that the bus was equipped with seat belts,” NTSB Board Member Tom Chapman said during a press conference. “Part of our investigation will be to determine the extent to which seat belts were being used, and the extent to which the lack of seatbelt use may have been a factor in some of the passengers being ejected.”
New York state law requires the use of seat belts on charter buses built on or after Nov. 28, 2016. New York State Police have identified the bus in Friday’s accident as a 2005 Van Wool Bus and Coach owned by M&Y Tour Inc, based out of Staten Island.
Chapman said that is was “not clear” to him whether the law would’ve applied to the tour bus, but the NTSB’s final report “may make some recommendations with respect to how that law might be improved.”
The NTSB recovered a camera from the scene, according to Scott Parent, one of the lead investigators looking into the accident. Investigators are still working to determine whether that camera was from the bus or if it has any valuable footage.
Investigators will be on scene for four to six days and will issue a final report within 30 days, Chapman said. The agency will issue a final report after 12-24 months.
The NTSB has not ruled out operator impairment or mechanical failure as causes of the accident.
State police ruled out those factors as causes of the accident in their own investigation. NYSP Major Andre Ray told reporters Friday that they believe the driver, 55-year-old Bin Shao of Flushing, New York, was distracted, however he did not say by what. Ray added that police may bring charges against Shao, who is cooperating with the investigation.
Steve Prouty, a 14-year veteran of the NTSB with a law enforcement background, is the investigator in charge. Prouty had not arrived in Pembroke by Saturday night due to “transportation challenges,” Chapman said.
Investigators are asking anyone with information about or video footage of the crash to contact them by email at witness@ntsb.gov.