Error! Error! Does not compute!
Posted on 04/12/2014 6:13:09 AM PDT by BenLurkin
ORLAND (CBSLA.com) — A couple in a car that got caught up in the deadly tour bus crash in Orland Thursday said it was like being in a terrifying 3D movie.
Bonnie Duran and her husband, Joe, were in a Nissan Altima that was clipped by a FedEx big rig just before it slammed into a tour bus, killing nine people. The bus and truck drivers were also killed.
“I looked over and saw the FedEx truck coming straight for me. He was in flames already,” Duran said. “I just started going this way, and he clipped the back end of me…and went on to hit the bus.”
KCAL9’s Tom Wait reported that the impact sent the couple into a gully near the side of the road.
“It was like a 3D movie. Imagine a Mack truck coming out of a movie, unbelievable. We didn’t even have time to react. She did a great job,” Joe said.
“It was so scary, we were wondering if anyone was going to get out of there alive,” Duran said.
An investigation into the accident is underway.
There is a psychological phenomenon that causes some witnesses to say an airplane was on fire before it crashed, even when it wasn't.
A number of delivery companies have been ordering CNG and LNG powered tractors for their over the road rigs. A disconnected fuel line in the engine compartment is a possibility. Some of the mandated diesel particulate systems work with high heat, some of the earlier ones would actually melt the asphalt under idling trucks.
Prayers for the victims and their families.
Don’t know whether it was a company driver or a lease on driver. Many of those lease guys simply floor it while the company drivers are limited by their truck’s governor. The lese drivers used to pass me and everyone else on the interstates in the Midwest.
It’s possible the tractor hit a culvert in the median on his way across and ruptured the fuel tank causing the fire to erupt prior to hitting the bus.
In some western states other than Kalifornia, you’ll see Fed-X Triples running the roads.
That caught my attention too...”already on fire”, possible exploding package???, that set all the other packages on fire? Hopefully, there will be an investigation into that possibility?
Error! Error! Does not compute!
I get it. I get jokes.
Hard to imagine a fire in the trailer would cause the driver to do anything but pull safely to the shoulder and attempt to drop the trailers. Southbound from OR to CA you are going to have a lot of empty or light loads due to the fact that there is more LTL freight into Oregon than out.
A fire in the cab would be rare and this equipment would have been in top shape. This was probably a team of two drivers going point to point. Hard to fall asleep, especially during daylight.
Maybe the sedan was involved in a different manner. It will be investigated.
Two witnesses told investigators that the Fed Ex Truck was on fire before it crossed the median and hit the bus. Now whether it was the truck itself or the trailer is not specific in the articles I have read.
The Fed EX truck clipped a vehicle before hitting the bus and the driver claims the Fed Ex on fire before hitting the bus?? I guess we will know soon.
what?
What a ridiculous and disrespectful thing to say.
There is no real median at that part of the 5...just a bunch of bushes separating the lanes.
I know that pic, some chap Named Brock painted that, right?
Fedex doesn’t own any trucks, only the trailers. They contract with small fleet owners to haul their trailers. The fleet owner would normally be liable, but in an accident this bad, I suspect the victims will go after the deep pockets.
“I, too, find it bizarre that people are apparently now equating horrific, real-life circumstances they experience as if it was just a scene in a movie.”
I imagine there might be a surreal aspect to the experience that makes the comparison logical.
Thanks for that clarification. I was sure they had separate divisions as I used to see drivers dressed in uniforms and others in T-shirts or worse. The guys in uniform always seemed to have the slower less fancy rigs.
From Redding in the north to Bakersfield in the south, I-5 is pretty dang flat terrain. Could probably rule out a brake fire.
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