EAU CLAIRE, WIS. - Authorities have released a list of "should not haves" about the bus-truck crash 10 days ago near Osseo, Wis., that killed five people connected with the Chippewa Falls High School marching band:
But "all those factors about the bus driver may not matter," David Rayburn, the chief investigator in the case for the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), said at a briefing Tuesday in Eau Claire.
Even with six good brakes, bus driver Paul Rasmus might have been unable to stop in time to avoid a crash, Rayburn said, adding that there were no skid marks to indicate that the driver had hit the brakes hard.
Seventeen observers participated in a nighttime accident reconstruction, he said, and depending on headlight settings and other traffic, they agreed that it would have taken from 227 to 786 feet from the site of the 2 a.m. crash just to recognize that there was an emergency hazard ahead.
Rasmus, 78, died in the crash, along with Doug Greenhalgh, 48, the band director; his wife, Therese, 51; their granddaughter, Morgan Greenhalgh, 11, and Branden Atherton, a student teacher who turned 24 the day of the crash. Nearly 30 people were injured.
Band members and chaperones were returning home in four buses after the band had won third place in a Class AAAA state competition at University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.
The road was in good condition and the night was clear and cold, but there was no roadside lighting and visibility was not good, Rayburn said.
One passenger, whom Rayburn would not identify, said she and Rasmus both saw something in the road ahead, then he tensed and braked.
It would have taken "well over 300 feet" to stop the bus if the brakes were in full working order, Rayburn said.
Tests in Texas showed that a loaded school bus would take 405 feet to stop at 70 miles an hour, said Allan Wodtke, a senior engineering specialist in the Automotive Engineering Technology Department at Minnesota State University, Mankato. That could vary with the condition of the road, tires and other factors.
Even at 60 miles per hour, a vehicle would travel 88 feet per second for whatever time a driver needed to react to a hazard and move his foot to brake, Wodtke said, and "that's one thing that isn't average."
The bus' two largest brakes, on the driving axle, were "seriously out of adjustment," and the automatic adjusters were 12 years old and had never been replaced, Rayburn said. If the bus had been inspected, it would have been taken out of service, he said.
Chippewa Trails has developed a policy to fix the problem, Rayburn said, adding that he has told the company and other parties to the investigation not to comment to news outlets.
Rasmus' driver's license called for him to wear glasses to correct vision that was 20/40 to 20/50, Rayburn said, but an eye doctor had told Rasmus his vision might have been good enough that he didn't need glasses.
He said the driver had been up for 19 hours, and someone awake for more than 17 hours is "more prone to errors." However, he described Rasmus as "a very healthy, vibrant 78-year-old man."
A final report by the NTSB is expected in about 18 months. A Wisconsin State Patrol investigation, which was not covered in Tuesday's briefing, is expected to be completed soon.
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