The collision and plunge into Big Sandy River involving a

school bus A school bus is any type of bus owned, leased, contracted to, or operated by a school or school district. It is regularly used to Student transport, transport students to and from school or school-related activities, but not including a charter ...

near Prestonsburg, Kentucky, on February 28, 1958, resulted in the deaths of 26 students and the bus's driver. It was the third-deadliest bus crash in

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

history, tied for fatalities with the Carrollton, Kentucky bus collision in 1988. The only deadlier crashes were a 1963 bus-train crash in Chualar, California and the 1976 Yuba City bus disaster, which claimed the lives of 29 people.

Crash

On a cold and cloudy morning, after a period of heavy rains and thaw, a Floyd County

loaded with 48 elementary and high school students bound for school in Prestonsburg,

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

struck the rear of a wrecker truck on U.S. Route 23 and fell down an embankment into the swollen waters of the

Levisa Fork The Levisa Fork (also known as the Levisa Fork River or the Levisa Fork of the Big Sandy River) is a tributary of the Big Sandy River, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe Nat ...

of the Big Sandy River, where it was swept downstream and submerged.

Response

National Guard National guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. ...

and other authorities and agencies responded to the disaster. On March 5, 1958, governor

Happy Chandler Albert Benjamin "Happy" Chandler Sr. (July 14, 1898 – June 15, 1991) was an American politician from Kentucky. He represented Kentucky in the U.S. Senate and served as its List of Governors of Kentucky, 44th and 49th governor. Aside from his ...

ordered 500 national guardsmen from 9 different cities to join the effort to find those still missing."Prestonburg Holds Burial Rites for 13 in Bus Tragedy." ''The Advocate-Messenger'', March 5, 1958, pg 1. The bus was finally located by

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

divers, and removed from the river 53 hours later.

Victims

Twenty-two children escaped the bus in the first few minutes as it became fully submerged in the raging flood stage waters and made it safely out of the river. However, 26 other children and the bus driver drowned. # Rita Cheryl Matney, 7, of Prestonsburg, Kentucky."List of Dead in Bus Plunge." ''The Messenger.'' March 3, 1958, pg. 1. https://img.newspapers.com/img/img?institutionId=0&user=7715884&id=530860136&clippingId=61393425&width=557&height=1581&crop=2285_2628_600_1735&rotation=0 # Sandra Faye Cline, 8, of Lancer, Kentucky. # Anna Laura Goble, 9, of Emma, Kentucky."Lima Resident Visits At Bus Tragedy Scene." ''The Lima Citizen''. March 13, 1958, pg 7. https://www.newspapers.com/image/666000529/ # James Edison Carey, 9, of Emma, Kentucky. # Paulette Cline, 9, of Lancer, Kentucky. # James L. Meade Jr., 9, of Lancer, Kentucky # John Spencer Goble, 11, of Emma, Kentucky. # James Edward Goble, 12, of Emma, Kentucky."Rites Are Held For 13 Victims: Four More Bodies Are Recovered; Search Continues For Other Seven." ''The Lexington Herald-Leader''. March 5, 1958. pg 1, 12. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/112662015/lexington-herald-leader/ # John Harlan Hughes Jr., 13, of Lancer, Kentucky. # Katie Carol Jarrell, 13, of Sugar Loaf, Kentucky. # Jane Carrol Harris, 14, of Emma, Kentucky. # Emma Joyce Ann Matney, 14, of Emma, Kentucky. # Kenneth Forrest Cisco, 14, of Sugar Loaf, Kentucky. # Marcella Jervis, 14, of Emma, Kentucky. # Montaine Jervis, 14, of Endicott, Kentucky. # Linda Darby, 14, of Cow Creek, Kentucky. # Nannie Joyce McPeek, 13, of Lancer, Kentucky. She was predeceased by her parents, Allen Roby McPeek and Roma McPeek. At the time of her death, she was living with the Cline family. # Bucky Ray Jarrell, 15, of Sugar Loaf, Kentucky. # Doris Faye Burchett, 15, of Emma, Kentucky. Her body was found on April 16, 1958. Her uncle, Graham Burchett, headed volunteer search efforts to help recover bodies from the crash site for months after the crash."Body of Another School Bus Victim is Found in River." ''The Messenger-Inquirer'', April 16, 1958, pg 4. https://img.newspapers.com/img/img?institutionId=0&user=7715884&id=381770894&clippingId=112663799&width=557&height=2369&crop=2609_304_626_2712&rotation=0 # James Thomas Ousley, 15, of Lancer, Kentucky. # Margaret Louise Hunt, 15, of Cow Creek, Kentucky. # Thomas Roosevelt Jarvis, 15, of Buffalo Creek, Kentucky. # Glenda May Cisco, 16, of Sugar Loaf, Kentucky. # Katherine Justice, 17, of Endicott, Kentucky. # Emogene Darby, 17, of Cow Creek, Kentucky. # Randy Scott Wallen, 17, of Lancer, Kentucky. # John Alex DeRossett, 27, of Prestonsburg, Kentucky. He was the driver of the bus.

Aftermath

The crash would become the impetus behind the formation of the Floyd County Emergency & Rescue Squad, founded by volunteers on April 27, 1958. To this day, the FCERS remains a 100% volunteer agency, and assists local police departments, volunteer fire departments, and EMS with auto extrication, search and rescue, fireground support, and EMS first response in addition to its original role as the primary water rescue agency for the area. The 27-person death toll is tied with the Carrollton bus disaster in 1988 for the third highest number of fatalities resulting from a bus crash. Both happened in

and in each, the victims were all thought to have survived the initial collisions, but were unable to safely evacuate the school-type buses afterwards. After the 1988 crash, Kentucky changed its public school bus equipment requirements to require nine emergency exits. This is the highest number of emergency exits required on school buses by any state or Canadian province.

Depiction in media

Several months later, two American recording artists released songs about the crash: The Stanley Brothers, with "No School Bus in Heaven," and Ralph Bowman, with "The Tragedy of Bus 27." Neither made the national ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

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charts, but they did receive regional airplay in some parts of the country. In recent years the accident has been the subject of two documentary films, ''The Very Worst Thing'' and ''A Life of Its Own'', and the site of the bus accident has been marked by a sign bearing a dark image of a school bus superimposed with the names of the children and driver that died. There is usually a wreath of plastic flowers on the guardrail in front of the sign, which is located on Route 1428 (old US 23) east of the intersection of Route 302.

References