At about 7:50 a.m. C.S.T., a Texas Department of Criminal Justice bus was traveling westbound on Interstate 20 near Penwell, Texas, when it veered off the highway and collided with a Union Pacific train. The bus, which was six months old at the time, was occupied by three prison guards, including the driver and 12 inmates.
The bus left the John Middleton Transfer Facility in Abilene at 4:40 a.m. and was enroute to the Rogelio Sanchez State Jail in El Paso.
The NTSB concluded that the guardrail was damaged as a result of being struck at least three times in a 28-hour period prior to the accident and added; “The NTSB concludes that, by the time of the bus crash, the structural integrity of the guardrail had been compromised such that it could not provide its safety function. Although an intact [ guardrail] might not have the capability of fully redirecting the type of vehicle involved in this crash, it might have provided some resistance and kept the bus from traveling between the parallel bridges.”
The NTSB in its report also faults the Texas Department of Transportation saying, “The NTSB concludes that TxDOT missed an opportunity to use available tools to warn motorists of the potentially adverse conditions on roadways and bridges, which could have prompted them to reduce travel speeds or take other precautions. “
While TxDOT had placed I-20 in the highest category for snow and ice treatment, transportation workers, the report said, were not properly trained in established policies and guidelines concerning the removal of snow and ice on the interstate. Workers, the report said, used less than half the recommended amount of brine, a de-icing solution, when they treated the highway.
The NTSB concludes that TxDOT application of the brine solution at a rate below the recommended level (30 gallons per lane mile instead of 70 gallons per lane mile) allowed the dilution of treatment and the subsequent ice buildup that occurred in the eastbound approach to the bridgewhich contributed to the loss of control of several vehicles and the previous damage to and displacement of the guardrail.
However, witnesses told investigators that there didn’t appear to be any ice or standing water on the highway near the location where the bus left the highway.
A driver involved in a previous accident told investigators the highway was damp, but there was no ice or standing water on the highway the report said.
Investigators initially considered whether a unrelated accident just ahead of the location where the bus veered off the highway might have contributed to the accident, however, that was not included as a probable cause of the accident according to the report.
Two prison guards and eight inmates were killed in the crash.
