‘They’ll be doomed’: STA was warned ahead of double-decker bus crash

On the morning of Jan. 18, a Spokane Transit Authority bus driver called into dispatch with a warning: “The CAD  system is not working,” the driver said, referring to the computer-assisted navigation system, in a recorded call obtained by The Spokesman-Review. He asked if the issue was caused by the thrice-yearly schedule adjustments that took effect that day.

“Probably, yeah, we’re having a lot of that this morning,” the dispatcher responded.

“I figured it must just be that time of year,” the driver joked.

“Yeah,” the dispatcher responded, chuckling.

“It’s showing whacky routes and no stops,” the driver noted.

“Oh wow,” the dispatcher said.

“If somebody follows part of it, they’ll be doomed,” the driver added, laughing.

“Right, right,” the dispatcher responded.

Hours later, not long after noon, a double-decker bus driver following the faulty navigation system crashed into the too-low Cedar Street viaduct. Of the 10 people on board – nine passengers and 65-year-old driver Wayne Morgan – seven were hospitalized.

It then took the agency three-and-a-half hours after the crash to warn the rest of its fleet to stop using its navigation , according to photos shared with The Spokesman-Review shortly after the crash.

On Friday, two months after the crash, the Spokane Transit Authority released a summary report of its investigation. The agency exonerating itself of any internal deficiencies and placed the blame on faulty technology and the driver.

The report also made no mention of the agency’s delay in warning other drivers, nor about the six routes that had regularly traveled under viaducts with listed clearances shorter than the posted heights of some buses. The taller hybrid-electric buses, which have since been removed from those routes, were seemingly spared only by margins of errors baked into the clearances of both the viaducts and the buses.

Among other errors, the investigation summary stated the driver failed to warn the agency that the navigation system was showing unusual routes ahead of the crash.

Morgan was charged with second-degree negligent driving. Police reported that he did not appear to be impaired.

On Monday, three days after releasing the summary of its investigation, the agency announced it would reopen the investigation after officials discovered that a different driver had reported the navigation issues earlier that morning. Based on the dispatcher’s response, it appears to have not been the only call about navigation issues that morning. Chad Camandona, president of the union representing Spokane Transit drivers, told The Spokesman-Review in January that the navigation system had been known to periodically experience errors.

“In light of this discovery, we are reopening the investigation and working to understand how the call to dispatch factors into the accident and the investigative findings, including what dispatch did with the information from the call,” agency CEO Karl Otterstrom wrote in a Monday statement. “Furthermore, we will pursue an independent review to validate the investigation’s completeness.”

The STA board of directors had been called into a special meeting at 4 p.m. Tuesday. The only listed agenda item was a closed-door executive session to discuss pending or possible future litigation.

Agency officials were not available for comment on Tuesday, however  agency spokeswoman Carly Cortright sent a written statement addressing questions about the recording and the navigation system.

“The recording was one of many from that day and was miscategorized in the investigative process as not relating to Route 6 Cheney,” Cortright wrote. “For this reason, the investigation is being reopened.”

In a prepared statement, STA acknowledged “issues with the CAD system are not uncommon,” but added that computer instructions are secondary to paper directions about the routes.

“This is why the CAD error is identified as a contributing factor, but not the primary factor,” STA’s statement said. “Disabling the CAD system mapping was a decision made to augment other measures that were taken, including recalling all double decker buses from service. The action was taken soon after the decision was made. It’s worth noting that STA’s immediate focus following the accident was response to the accident itself.”