National Transportation Safety Board Investigates Deadly Ohio Crash Involving High School Students, Leaves Six Dead and 18 Injured

Accident – Death – Obituary News : National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigators are set to begin their work at the scene of a fatal highway crash in Etna, Ohio. The accident involved a charter bus filled with high school students and resulted in the deaths of six people, with 18 others sustaining injuries. NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy stated that the team will be searching for cameras and other evidence from the five vehicles involved in the crash. The investigation is expected to take five to seven days, and a preliminary report will be released in the coming weeks.

According to Homendy, there is conflicting information regarding the sequence of events that led to the chain-reaction crash. The incident involved the charter bus, an SUV, and a semitruck. The bus, operated by Pioneer Trails, was carrying a driver, 54 students, and chaperones from the Tuscarawas Valley Local School District. Three passengers on the bus were pronounced dead at the scene. They have been identified as John W. Mosely, Jeffery D. Worrell, and Katelyn N. Owens. The bus was en route to an Ohio School Boards Association conference in Columbus.

The conference, known as the second-largest education convention in the country, was canceled upon learning of the crash. It was supposed to offer professional development sessions for school district management teams and an annual Student Achievement Fair. Tuscarawas Valley Superintendent Derek Varansky expressed his grief during a community prayer vigil, describing the incident as one of the darkest days in the district’s history. He also announced that classes would still be held the following day, with additional support staff and counselors available to assist students.

In addition to the fatalities on the bus, three people in another passenger vehicle involved in the crash were also pronounced dead at the scene. They were identified as Dave Kennat, Kristy Gaynor, and Shannon Wigfield. The driver of the second passenger vehicle was taken to the hospital, while the drivers of the commercial vehicles involved received medical treatment.

The accident caused significant traffic delays in the area, resulting in the closure of both sides of Interstate 70 for several hours. The eastbound lanes reopened late Tuesday afternoon, while the westbound lanes reopened early Wednesday.

Tori Wilson, a sophomore at the school who was on the bus during the crash, shared her harrowing experience. She mentioned overhearing someone mentioning a fire and the need to evacuate, but she was trapped and struggled to escape. Wilson described the chaos inside the bus, with injured students and the band director attempting to rescue them. Eventually, she managed to crawl out of a window to safety.

This is the second fatal crash involving high school students on a charter bus in recent months. In September, a charter bus carrying students to band camp veered off a highway in New York, resulting in two deaths and several injuries.

Following a similar incident in Ohio in August, Governor Mike DeWine established a School Bus Safety Working Group. The group’s next meeting, scheduled for next Thursday, will discuss training and on-bus instruction, among other topics. While it remains unclear how charter buses will be addressed in the group’s final report, Tuesday’s crash will be acknowledged during the meeting..