Knight Ridder Newspapers

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Investigators are trying to learn how a school bus carrying 53 children became a deadly missile, crashing through a busy Liberty intersection Monday morning.

Two motorists waiting at a stoplight died. At least 23 children were injured, two critically, as stunned onlookers ran to rescue children through the broken windshield of a bus embedded in an embankment.

“It was like a torpedo, it was going so fast,” said Robin Jess of Kansas City, whose car sat at the front of the same waiting line of traffic.

Witnesses said the southbound bus, on its way to Ridgeview Elementary School in Liberty, appeared to swerve to avoid stopped traffic and careened out of control, broadsiding two vehicles, each with a driver and no passengers.

David Gleason, 53, of Kansas City, North, and David Sandweiss, 49, of Liberty, Mo., died at the scene. Gleason, an attorney, was on his way to a conference. Sandweiss was a Parkville, Mo., advertising executive. Both left families behind.

The names of the driver and the injured children were not released.

The bus driver, who remained overnight for observation at Liberty Hospital, has worked for Liberty School District for seven years and has an “impeccable” driving record, Superintendent Scott Taveau said. There was no indication of any health issue that might have impaired the driver, police said.

The district’s bus fleet had passed a safety inspection by the Missouri Highway Patrol just two weeks ago, Taveau said.

Authorities and school officials said it would be premature to comment on whether mechanical problems or driver error were factors in the crash. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating.

The regular route for the bus, Taveau said, was to continue south on Missouri 291 through the intersection. But witnesses said it veered right, across eastbound Missouri 152. It plowed through two cars that been waiting side-by-side behind other cars at the light. The three vehicles ended up scattered across the embankment of the intersection’s southwest corner.

The bus “went to the right because if she didn’t, she’d have hit all kinds of vehicles,” said Ray Stapleton, who said the bus had passed him moments before on southbound Missouri 291.

The children had little warning.

Hannah Thompson, 7, remembered watching a friend of hers slide out of a seat across the aisle.

“It felt like we were flying across the road,” said Hannah, who was uninjured. “Then, we came crashing slantways, and the next thing I knew, my friends were crying.”

The exploding sound of the wreck startled motorists and workers at one of Liberty’s busiest intersections.

“Kids were crying and bleeding and crying for their mommies,” said Michael Woolery, a Liberty High School senior who ran to rescue children from the bus. He and others climbed through its broken windshield.

Sharon Van Horn was one of several workers from the nearby Hy-Vee supermarket who turned to see “a big dust cloud,” then ran to the bus.

“I’m not your mommy, but I am a mommy,” she said she told crying children.

Witnesses at the scene said they saw children with teeth knocked out, broken bones, back injuries and cuts.

“All I kept thinking about were their eyes, they were so scared,” Hy-Vee employee Vickie Whattoff said, fighting back tears. “There were so many kids.”

A boy who lost his front teeth asked Whattoff if he would be deformed. She replied, “You have a beautiful face; everything will be fine.”

About a mile from the accident, pupils at Ridgeview were close enough to hear and see media and medical helicopters thumping overhead.

Among the injured were two children in critical condition Monday evening at Children’s Mercy Hospital . Another child was in the intensive care unit of North Kansas City Hospital.

The rest of the children were listed with less serious injuries at Children’s Mercy, North Kansas City or Liberty hospitals, or had been released by Monday evening.

In all, the school district reported 23 children were transported to hospitals, although Liberty Hospital reported it saw at least 27 children. Some children were taken from the scene by their parents and brought to hospitals later, officials said.

Taveau rushed to the scene.

“It was 10 times worse than what was going through my mind,” Taveau said afterward. “I wasn’t prepared at all. The scene was horrible.”

A few students were brought to the administration building, where the phones rang nonstop with frantic parents anxious to learn about their children. District officials checked names against a list of students assigned to bus No. 80.

Julie Hancock had two children on the bus, 10-year-old Avery and 6-year-old Braden. She found them at the Liberty School District administration building. Braden had tears in his eyes and a Band-Aid on his knee. His mother held him in one arm while she called with a cell phone to try to arrange for an X-ray of his leg.

“It was really scary,” Avery said of the accident. “Some of the kids were on the floor (of the bus).”

Terry Bray was in a meeting when he was interrupted by a cell phone call giving him the news.

He rushed to North Kansas City Hospital where his 8-year-old daughter Elly was treated for cuts to her arm. After making sure Elly was OK, Bray turned his attention to others in his Northland neighborhood. Most of the children on the bus live in either Amber Meadows or Amber Lake subdivisions, he said.

The initial shock and confusion subsided for most of the parents once they realized their children were going to be fine, he said.

“The parents were a little hysterical when they first came in,” he said.

It was unclear how long the investigation would take.

School officials declined to release inspection records for the bus, saying they were given to police. “We have a wonderful safety record, and we have a great inspection record, and it certainly can be verified by the Missouri Highway Patrol,” Taveau said at a news conference Monday. “Just two weeks ago is when the bus did pass inspection. Our bus inspections were again impeccable this year.”

The district’s fleet of about 60 buses passed its most recent inspection by the Missouri Highway Patrol with an 89 percent score, district officials said. Last year, the fleet received a grade of nearly 97 percent. In July, the district was awarded an Exemplary School Bus Maintenance Award from the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education for compiling a 90 percent rating for five years.

The inspection records could not be verified by the Highway Patrol because state agencies were closed Monday in honor of Harry Truman’s birthday anniversary.

Missouri law requires that every school bus be inspected twice a year, by both the operators and the Highway Patrol. Inspections include checks of such equipment as brakes and fuel systems. Serious defects with steering, suspension or brakes result in the bus being taken out of service. Those buses must be reinspected before they can be put back in service.

School bus operators also must conduct a daily pre-trip inspection of the vehicle.

Jim Morris, spokesman for the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, said many districts such as Liberty operate their own school buses. Others hire contractors. All are under the same inspection system.

An April 2003 audit by state Auditor Claire McCaskill, however, found that improvements were needed in Missouri’s bus inspection program.

For example, the audit said, spot inspections conducted by the Highway Patrol in 2002 showed that some operators were not conducting all required inspections. “The Highway Patrol’s data show a majority of school buses are safe,” the audit stated. “However, Highway Patrol spot inspections and inspection data indicate not all school bus operators inspected their buses in accordance with state law and regulations.”

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(The Kansas City Star’s Lindsay Hanson, Judy L. Thomas, Kevin Hoffman, Debra Skodack, Gregory S. Reeves, Matt Campbell, Bill Graham, Lynn Franey and John Shultz contributed to this report.)

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