"Bus in crash was on road illegally; 16th person dies"

Posted on Saturday, Aug. 09, 2008

Bus in crash was on road illegally; 16th person dies

Company that may have owned vehicle had been ordered out of service

By GORDON DICKSON
gdickson@star-telegram.com

A bus that crashed early Friday in Sherman — killing at least 16 people — shouldn’t have been on the road, federal and state records show.
It was equipped with an illegal recapped tire on its front axle, which controls steering, crash investigators say. And the company that owned the vehicle, or a related company — investigators are still trying to sort out which — was still in operation more than a month after federal officials took steps to shut the operation down.
Critics say they’re again frustrated that more hasn’t been done to improve motor coach safety on U.S. roads.
"If these were regional airplanes that were crashing, and not motor coaches, Congress and everybody else would be on top of this to get something done," said Jackie Gillan, vice president of the Washington-based Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety.
Saturday, the Sherman police department identified the bus driver as Barrett Wayne Broussard of Houston.
 
Angel Tours
 
The company, Angel Tours Inc. of Houston, that arranged transportation for 54 religious pilgrims from Houston to Missouri was banned from operating as an interstate carrier in June after federal officials found three critical safety violations. Even though the Houston bus crashed just south of the Oklahoma state line — not actually leaving Texas — it was considered an interstate motor coach because all the passengers bought tickets from Houston to Missouri, officials said.
Angel Tours and a start-up motor coach company at the same address named Iguala Busmex also were not legally registered to operate motor coaches on Texas roads, state records show.
On May 1, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration found that Angel Tours:
Used a driver before receiving a pre-employment result.
Failed to require a driver to prepare a vehicle inspection report.
And used a driver not medically re-examined every 24 months.
A total of $3,460 in fines was assessed May 8 for two of those charges, and on June 23, the company was ordered out of service.
 
Iguala Busmex
 
But on June 26, company owner Angel de la Torre filed an application for a new bus service, Iguala Busmex, at the same Houston address, federal records show.
De la Torre could not be reached for comment. Calls to the offices of Angel Tours and Iguala Busmex were unanswered Friday morning and afternoon.
That application is pending, and Iguala Busmex wasn’t yet legally authorized to carry passengers. Companies can’t legally operate a coach service until the federal government approves the application, according to federal rules.
Critics counter, however, that many start-up companies operate for up to 18 months before their case is finally reviewed with an on-site visit.
"It’s easy for them to continue operating with impunity," Gillan said.
Iguala Busmex’s federal application also shows that the company had not yet posted the minimum $5 million in insurance.
State and federal officials say they’re still sorting through whether the bus that crashed belonged to Angel Tours or Iguala Busmex — but either way it was not allowed to operate.
 
Bus was 2002 model
 
Police are being asked to stop any buses still being operated by Angel Tours or Iguala Busmex found on U.S. roads, said John H. Hill, Federal Motor Carrier Safety administrator.
Hill also said in a statement that his agency will "work with the proper authorities, if warranted, to vigilantly pursue civil and/or criminal violations relating to this incident."
The bus that crashed was a 2002 model built by Motor Coach Industries, or MCI, investigators said.
It had paper license-plate tags that expire today, Sherman police said.
National Transportation Safety Board officials declined Friday night to discuss the tags and said they were still trying to determine ownership.
But they did discuss the recapped tire.
Recapped tires are essentially old tires equipped with a new layer of rubber tread. They are legal and are commonly used on tractor-trailers, buses and other large vehicles as a way to save money and preserve a tire’s life span. Federal rules allow recapped tires on passenger buses — but only on axles not involved in steering the vehicle.
However, the bus that crashed in Sherman had a recapped Goodyear tire on its front axle, a violation of federal safety rules, said Debbie Hersman, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board.
"If there is a loss of air pressure, or delamination of the tire, it’s much more difficult to control the vehicle," Hersman said during a news briefing at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport.
The other nine tires on the bus had their original tread, Hersman said. The left front tire was a Firestone.
NTSB officials say they’re still investigating whether the blowout caused the crash. Survivors told police they thought a tire blew just before the driver lost control on northbound U.S. 75. The bus struck a guardrail and slid 180 feet before plunging 12 feet down an embankment and landing on its side.
 
Violations of state law
 
The bus operator also was in violation of state law, records in Austin show.
In Texas, motor coach companies that travel across state lines are required annually to submit a unified carrier registration number to the Texas Department of Transportation’s motor carrier division. Angel Tours registered a UCR in Texas in 2007 but allowed the registration to expire this year, department spokesman Robert Anderson said.
Iguala Busmex has no number on file at the Austin office and also cannot legally operate, he said.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, in a company profile of Angel Tours, cited numerous safety violations during 26 inspections the past two years. Some of the violations occurred at Texas international points of entry and included problems with lights, tires and brakes, as well as driver errors such as speeding and logbook violations.
But federal and state officials lack the authority necessary to shut down businesses that fail inspections, critics say.
Motor coaches also are long overdue for safety improvements to the bus itself, including stronger roofs, seat belts and glazed windows to prevent passengers from being ejected, they say.
A bill co-sponsored by U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, would require motor coach companies to make those changes, officials said.
A hearing on that bill is scheduled for Sept. 18 in Washington. The bill would also require better driver training, on-board recorders, tougher roadside inspections and a national medical registry of drivers.
 
Angel Tours at a glance
The bus that crashed in Sherman, killing at least 15 people, was owned by either Houston-based Angel Tours or a new company at the same address called Iguala Busmex, officials say.
Owner: Angel de la Torre (also registered agent for Iguala Busmex, which is not yet approved as an interstate carrier).
Address: 1505 Telephone Road, Houston.
Online: www.angeltours.net
Buses: 6
Mileage per year: 500,000
Drivers: 6
Status: Taken out of service June 23.
Source: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
Deadly crashes Friday’s crash is already one of the deadliest road events in Texas history.
Here are others:
March 14, 1940: 29 killed in a truck-train collision in Hidalgo County.
Aug. 4, 1952: 28 killed when two buses collided in McLennan County.
Sept. 23, 2005: 23 nursing home patients fleeing Hurricane Rita were killed when the rear wheel of a charter bus caught fire and the vehicle burst into flames in south Dallas County.
Sept. 21, 1989: 21 killed when a school bus sped into a water-filled gravel pit in Hidalgo County.
Aug. 5, 1947: 19 killed when two trucks collided in Ellis County.
April 29, 1975: 16 killed when a truck overturned in Maverick County.
July 3, 1994: 14 killed — 12 children and two adults — when a van driven by a California woman was struck by a tractor-trailer and burst into flames in Weatherford.
Source: Star-Telegram archives

GORDON DICKSON, 817-685-3816
http://www.star-telegram.com/news/story/820383.html