NTSB/HAB-02/05 

E PLURIBUS UNUM

NATIONAL TRA S PORTATION

B OAR D

SAFE T Y

N National Transportation Safety Board 

 Washington, DC 20594 

 Highway Accident Brief

Accident No.: HWY-01-FH006 

Accident Type: School bus run-off-the-road and rollover 

Location: U.S. Route 191 at milepost 428 

18 miles north of Ganado, Arizona 

Date and Time November 3, 2000, about 10:00 a.m. 

Vehicle: 1997 Blue Bird model type D school-activity bus 

Certified to carry 52 high school to 75 elementary school passengers 

Owner/Operator: Chinle Unified School District No. 24, Chinle, Arizona 

School band competition trip 

People on Board: Thirty-eightódriver and 37 passengers 

Injuries: One fatal 

Two serious and 35 minor 

Accident Description 

On November 3, 2000, about 9:15 a.m., a 1997 Blue Bird school-activity bus, owned and 

operated by Chinle Unified School District No. 24, departed Chinle High School, Chinle, 

Arizona, carrying the driver, the band director, 3 chaperones, and 33 students, on an 8-hour trip 

to Las Vegas, Nevada, for a school band competition. 

The bus traveled southbound on U.S. Route 191, a two-way, two-lane, paved asphalt 

roadway running north and south. The 11.5-foot-wide lanes of the highway were divided by 

yellow-painted broken lines and bordered by 2-foot-wide unpaved shoulders. The southbound 

shoulder had a 12-percent downgrade slope starting at the roadway edge. The busdriver reported 

that he encountered light snow and fog, which required operating the windshield wipers. The fog 

created wet surface conditions on the roadway and dirt shoulder. Visibility ranged from 10 feet 

to 200 yards, and the busdriver said that he reduced his 65-mph speed to accommodate the 

conditions but was unaware of his speed at the time of the accident. 

According to the busdriver, the trip proceeded normally until about 10:00 a.m., as the bus 

approached milepost 428, which was at the top of a 6,184-foot mesa. About that time, the band 

director approached the busdriver and offered him a snack, placing a bag of sunflower seeds on 

the dashboard. The busdriver stated that he briefly directed his attention from the roadway when 

the bag shifted, as if to fall, and that he grabbed for the bag, removing his right hand from the 

steering wheel. The bus was entering a 744-foot-long, 2-degree left curve when the busdriver 

was distracted by the slipping bag. 

The busdriver recalled that the busís right front tire left the roadway. (The bus traveled 

approximately 117 feet into the curve before departing the paved surface.) The busdriver told 

investigators that he steered to the right to avoid a metal detector post adjacent to the highway, 

and the bus suddenly leaned to the right on the slope descending from the right side. The 

busdriver said that as the bus inclined to the right, his body, although belted, slid and tilted to the 
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right on his seat. He explained that he tried to hold onto the steering wheel and brace himself 

with his right foot, but his foot slipped onto the accelerator pedal and inadvertently pressed the 

pedal to full throttle. The busdriver stated that the shoulder was soft and steep and that the 

softness caused the bus to roll over. The bus rolled to the right approximately 450 feet and 

traveled about 100 feet while overturning 1 l/4 turns; it came to rest on its right side about 550 

feet from the point where it left the pavement. 

To free the busdriver, the band director unbuckled the driverís three-point seat belt, 

which was jammed by the busdriverís weight; both exited the bus through the damaged 

windshield. Once outside, they led the students away from the bus and attempted to aid the 

injured. Bus occupants exited through the front windshield opening, both open roof hatch 

apertures, and the rear emergency window exit. 

A chaperone and a student were partially ejected through broken windows on the right 

side and sustained fatal and serious injuries, respectively. (The chaperone was seated in row five 

on the busís right side and the student in row five on the left side.) Another student was seriously 

injured; the other occupants of the bus received minor injuries. 

Vehicle Damage 

Deformation of the bus interior was primarily confined to the roof and right side. (See 

figure 1.) The roof was compressed down about 7 inches on the right side, and the occupant 

compartment was compressed inward about 8 inches vertically above the window bottoms. The 

windshield and back emergency exit window were broken. 

Figure 1. View of interior damage looking aft.
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The bus exterior sustained impact damage on the right side and the adjacent roof. The 

busís right side was deformed inward about 8 inches along the roofline. The deformation began 

along the bottom of the window frames. Five of the 10 right-side windows and the boarding door 

were broken during the rollover sequence. (See figures 2 and 3.) On the left side, the most 

significant damage was below the floor area adjacent to the left-side emergency exit door. In 

addition, the first 3 of the 11 left-side windows were broken. The left-side emergency exit door 

was functional. 

Figure 2. Right side view showing damage above bottom of window frames and along roofline.

Figure 3. Right side damage view showing boarding door and driver area.
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The rear emergency roof hatch was transected (sheared off) along the hinge line. The 

front emergency roof hatch was compressed downward, and the hinge was damaged along the 

hinge line and hatch frame. The air conditioning unit was detached from the roof. 

Busdriver Information 

The 38-year-old busdriver held a valid Arizona class B commercial driverís license with 

a school bus endorsement issued in October 1997; he possessed a valid medical certificate issued 

in October 1999. His driving record indicated no violations. The busdriver began driving for the 

Chinle Unified School District No. 24 in September 1997. 

The busdriver reported that he was in good health and took no prescription drugs at the 

time of the accident. According to the busdriver, he went to bed at 10:00 p.m. on November 2, 

2000, and rose at 5:00 a.m. on November 3, 2000. During the 4 days prior to the accident, the 

busdriver maintained his regular rest schedule (10:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m.) and his daily work 

routine (5:15 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. and 2:15 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.). 

Probable Cause 

The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this 

accident was the school bus driverís distraction, as he tried to prevent an object from falling off 

the dashboard. Contributing to the severity of the accident was the lack of a sufficient shoulder 

area adjacent to the roadway, which might have enabled the busdriver to recover control of the 

bus and to prevent the rollover. 

Adopted August 21, 2002