Brakes failed before fatal tour bus crash

YUCAIPA, Calif. – The bus full of tired tourists returning to Tijuana, Mexico, was slowly winding down a mountain road from the ski resort town of Big Bear when it suddenly picked up speed. The driver shouted to call 911 – the brakes had failed.

As passengers frantically tried to get a cellphone signal, a group of teenage girls shrieked and prayed aloud as others cried and shielded their heads as they careened downhill.

The bus rear-ended a Saturn sedan, swerved, flipped and slid on its side. A Ford pickup in the oncoming lane plowed into it, righting the bus and tossing passengers out shattered windows before it came to a halt.

Seven people were killed and about three dozen injured Sunday night in the accident 80 miles east of Los Angeles. The dead included 13-year-old Victor Cabrera-Garcia; Elvira Garcia Jimenez, 40; and Guadalupe Olivas, 61, all of San Diego; along with Aleida Adriana Arce Hernandez, 38, and Rubicelia Escobedo Flores, 34, and Mario Garcia Santoyo 32, all of Tijuana, said San Bernardino County coroner’s supervisor Tony Campisi. One woman remained unidentified.

On Monday investigators searched for evidence and scrutinized the bus company’s safety history.

Government records showed the bus, operated by Scapadas Magicas LLC of National City, Calif., recorded 22 safety violations in inspections in the year ending last October – including brake, windshield and tire problems. Though the company retained an overall “satisfactory” rating from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration it had been targeted for a higher rate of inspections linked to bus maintenance, the agency said.

The National Transportation Safety Board sent a team to the scene to help in the investigation, which will determine if mechanical failure or driver error was to blame. The driver, Norberto B. Perez, approximately 52, of San Ysidro, Calif., told authorities the vehicle had brake problems.