NTSB to launch investigation into fiery I-70 crash in Licking County that killed 6
The National Transportation Safety Board held a short press briefing Tuesday night at John Glenn International Airport to discuss the fatal Interstate 70 crash in Licking County that killed six people and injured 18 others.
Members of the NTSB and Chair Jennifer Homendy announced after arriving at the airport that the agency would begin its investigative process Wednesday morning at the scene of the fiery, five-vehicle crash on I-70 west, about a half-mile before the Route 310 interchange in Etna.
A preliminary report from the NTSB Transportation Disaster Assistance Team will be released in a few weeks, said Homendy. The preliminary report will only include the facts of the crash, not an analysis.
Homendy said she expects to have an update on the preliminary investiation by Wednesday afternoon.
A detailed investigation and report will take from 12 to 18 months to finish, she said.
Initial reports from the crash indicate that a tractor-trailer from Mid States Systems appeared to hit a commercial bus from Pioneer Bus Lines that was carrying 57 people who were on their way to the last day of the Ohio School Boards Association conference, NTSB officials said.
Three students from Tuscarawas Valley Local Schools aboard a charter bus were killed as were three chaperones in a passenger car accompanying the bus that was involved in the crash., according to the Ohio Highway Patrol Granville Post.
The tractor-trailer, the bus and the passenger vehicle in which the three died all caught fire, the Ohio Highway Patrol has indicated.
Another commercial vehicle and a second passenger vehicle were also involved, the patrol said.
The six people who died in the crash have been identified by the patrol as:
John W. Mosely, 18, of Mineral City
Jefferey D. Worrell, 18, of Bolivar
Katelyn N. Owens, 15, of Mineral City
Dave Kennat, 56, of Navarre
Kristy Gaynor, 39, of Zoar
Shannon Wigfield, 39, of Bolivar
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: NTSB launches investigation into deadly I-70 crash that killed 6
