Federal inspectors over the last year found numerous safety violations on buses operated by the California-based company involved in a rollover crash near the Grand Canyon, killing one passenger and seriously injuring eight others, records show.
Arizona Department of Public Safety’s preliminary report, from the August 1 crash, said the tour bus was operated by American Transportation Services and had 56 passengers on board.
According to the report, the bus was getting ready to let passengers off at the parking lot near the Grand Canyon Skywalk, a popular tourist destination, when the 68-year-old driver drifted off the roadway into a drainage ditch.
The tour bus continued out of the ditch into the parking lot and rolled over, striking three parked cars. One of the cars intruded into the passenger compartment of the bus, killing a female passenger on board. Eight other passengers were seriously injured, and all the other remaining passengers were taken to local hospitals.
Records show the tour bus company, American Transportation, based in Long Beach, CA, had enough safety violations in the last year to exceed federal safety thresholds subjecting the company to possible prioritized intervention action and roadside inspection.
Before the most recent crash, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration records show the company’s drivers were involved in two other injury crashes in the last two years. Federal inspectors recently cited five operators for driving over their hour limit or for not keeping proper logs. Records also show the company has more than 100 buses in its fleet and had 107 maintenance violations in the last two years.
The 68-year-old bus driver involved in last week’s crash was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter, a class two felony, and booked into a Mohave County Detention Center. The driver has since been released after the county attorney chose not to file charges while the investigation into the crash continues.
ABC15 spoke with the bus driver, and he directed us to his attorney who had no comment. We have not heard back from the tour bus company.
