Retired state trooper remembers Floyd County school bus crash 58 years later

 

It has been 58 years since the worst school bus crash in our nation's history.

 

On February 28, 1958, a bus carrying 48 students went into the Big Sandy River in Floyd County.. killing 26 children and the bus driver.

 

For the first time since that incident.. a former Kentucky State Police trooper who was at that scene is talking publicly about that day.

 

"That was 1958 and I can still see the kids," explained Thomas Wright.

 

The school bus clipped a truck along old US 23, swerving off the highway, down an 80 foot embankment ... plunging into the river.

 

A tragedy Wright remembers well.

 

"People were coming as far as Michigan and the Carolinas coming and sitting around in the way. You couldn't work. I would try to preach to them and talk pretty hateful to them like this ... and told them that they wouldn't want to see those kids if we found them. They wouldn't want to see them," he remembered.

 

The search going on for weeks until May 10th ... when the last body was pulled from the river.

 

Living in Prestonsburg for a while and being involved with the local fire dept, I heard stories about this tragedy. At that point it had only been 30 years and was still fresh in the minds of many.

 

From this tragedy and the Carrolton Bus Crash later came legislation that mandates that Kentucky School buses have more emergency exits than buses in any state in the country. It is thought that in both cases all students survived the initial crash only to die when they couldn't escape the buses.

 

I actually spoke about this accident in Sunday School this morning and one of the things that I found researching it was that it took over 50 hours to find the school bus in the river after it sank and was washed away. US Navy Divers were brought in to assist in finding the bus and the recovery. This accident is tied with the Carrolton Crash as the second deadliest school bus crash in US history I believe.

 

It was interesting to read that the first Rescue Squad in Kentucky was formed due to this accident also. Thinking of the countless lives that have been saved by Rescue Squads across the state since 1958, you realize that these children didn't die in vain.

I hadn't heard of this crash.

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Just curious---but if this same accident happened today, are we better equipped to handle it? Or would it be the same outcome?

Both of my parents are from Prestonsburg and 3 of the kids were related to my dad side of family.. I've seen the spot where the bus was supposedly went in. One of the many stories I've heard was about a kid who got in trouble and his parents did let him go to school that day. After the parents change their mind he miss the bus chasing it down the street but could not caught up.

Had never heard about this tragedy, hard to fathom the horror of the community.

I think the Carrol Co bus crash gets more publicity than this one.

 

Not trying to be rude or anything, I just think this crash was worse and no one ever mentions it.

 

Both are bad

Just curious---but if this same accident happened today, are we better equipped to handle it? Or would it be the same outcome?

 

That school bus had one emergency exit at the back and the regular door. Today most School Buses in KY have at least two exits on each side, a roof hatch and the regular door...Kentucky I have read is the leader in emergency exit requirements for buses. Considering that this accident and the Carrolton crash both occurred in Kentucky, I'm glad that Kentucky has led the way on making buses safer.

 

Also there was no Emergency Services in place to deal with an accident like this back then. This accident basically launched the Rescue Squad in Kentucky as the first one was founded in Floyd county just months later. Many communities with flowing rivers such as Floyd now have Swift Water Rescue teams as well.

 

One other thing that helps prevent this particular accident is much better level of guardrails used along Kentucky roads than back in the 50's and 60's. A good guardrail 58 years ago may have saved all of those lives.

I think the Carrol Co bus crash gets more publicity than this one.

 

Not trying to be rude or anything, I just think this crash was worse and no one ever mentions it.

 

Both are bad

They are tied for the 2nd worst in US History I believe. I agree that most people don't know as much about this one...but the people in Floyd County have never forgotten and I doubt they ever will.

Tragic. Don't know any other way to describe it. I too had never heard of this.