MOUNT PLEASANT, Pa. — A final review of a crash on the Pennsylvania Turnpike that killed five people two years ago cites excessive speed as the probable cause.
The National Transportation Safety Board released the final report on Feb. 8, 2022 of the January 2020 crash in Mount Pleasant, Westmoreland County.
It involved a number of vehicles, including a motorcoach bus carring 59 passengers, a FedEx tractor trailer, two UPS tractor trailers, and a car.
Officials say that the bus was going eastbound at 77 miles per hour in what is normally a 70 mile per hour section of road, however, a posted sign adviced reducing speed to 55 miles per hour.
When the bus entered a curve in the highway, officials say it struck an embankment at 60 miles per hour before overturning, after which two trucks subsequently crashed into it.
The second truck's last recorded speed was 56 miles per hour, officials say the speed of this truck during the impact contributed to the crash's severity.
During the crash, a westbound car and truck towing a semitrailer drove off the road to avoid the wreck as well.
While it was later found that all three trucks we equipped with forward collision avoidance systems, the system of the second truck wasn't working because of a misaligned radar the system depended on.
Officials say the crash was preventable.
"The full human toll of this crash is incalculable," said Jennifer Homendy, chair of the NTSB. "No investigation could ever determine the true number of lives altered on that January day."
According it officials, variable speed limit signs and speed limiting technology could have helped avoid commercial vehicle speeding and may have prevented or mitigated the crash.
The full impacts of the crash ultimately injured 50 people as well.
The approximately 3,000 page report provides detailed background on the timeline of events leading up to and during the crash, as well as information on each of the drivers involved.
For for additional information and a link to the full report, click here.