Prestonsburg, Kentucky, bus crash

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Prestonsburg, Kentucky bus disaster
Prestonsburgbusdisaster.jpg
Prestonsburg, Kentucky, bus crash
Details
DateFebruary 28, 1958
Location Prestonsburg, Kentucky
Statistics
Bus School bus
Vehicles tow truck
Passengers49
Deaths27
A memorial to the disaster sits in front of the old Floyd County Courthouse in Prestonsburg. Old courthouse, Prestonsburg.jpg
A memorial to the disaster sits in front of the old Floyd County Courthouse in Prestonsburg.

The Prestonsburg, Kentucky bus disaster occurred on February 28, 1958, on U.S. Route 23 in Floyd County, Kentucky, when a school bus carrying 48 elementary and high school students struck the rear of a wrecker truck, causing the bus to plunge into the icy waters of the rain-swollen Levisa Fork of the Big Sandy River. Of the 49 people onboard (including the driver), 26 students and the bus driver were killed in the crash.

Contents

It is the third-deadliest bus crash in United States 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 school bus loaded with 48 elementary and high school students bound for school in Prestonsburg, Kentucky 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 of the Big Sandy River, where it was swept downstream and submerged. [1]

Response

National Guard and other authorities and agencies responded to the disaster. On March 5, 1958, governor Happy Chandler ordered 500 national guardsmen from 9 different cities to join the effort to find those still missing. [2] The bus was finally located by Navy divers, and removed from the river 53 hours later. [1]

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.

  1. Rita Cheryl Matney, 8, of Prestonsburg, Kentucky. [a]
  2. Sandra Faye Cline, 8, of Lancer, Kentucky. [4]
  3. Anna Laura Goble, 9, of Emma, Kentucky. [6]
  4. James Edison Carey, 9, of Emma, Kentucky. [4]
  5. Paulette Cline, 9, of Lancer, Kentucky. [6]
  6. James L. Meade Jr., 9, of Lancer, Kentucky
  7. John Spencer Goble, 11, of Emma, Kentucky. [4]
  8. James Edward Goble, 12, of Emma, Kentucky. [7]
  9. John Harlan Hughes Jr., 13, of Lancer, Kentucky. [6]
  10. Katie Carol Jarrell, 13, of Sugar Loaf, Kentucky. [7]
  11. Jane Carrol Harris, 14, of Emma, Kentucky. [4] [6]
  12. Emma Joyce Ann Matney, 14, of Emma, Kentucky. [7] [2]
  13. Kenneth Forrest Cisco, 14, of Sugar Loaf, Kentucky. [4]
  14. Marcella Jervis, 14, of Emma, Kentucky. [6] [7]
  15. Montaine Jervis, 14, of Endicott, Kentucky. [6]
  16. Linda Darby, 14, of Cow Creek, Kentucky. [6]
  17. 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. [6]
  18. Bucky Ray Jarrell, 15, of Sugar Loaf, Kentucky. [4] [6]
  19. 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. [8]
  20. James Thomas Ousley, 15, of Lancer, Kentucky. [4]
  21. Margaret Louise Hunt, 15, of Cow Creek, Kentucky. [4]
  22. Thomas Roosevelt Jarvis, 15, of Buffalo Creek, Kentucky. [4] [6]
  23. Glenda May Cisco, 16, of Sugar Loaf, Kentucky. [4] [6]
  24. Katherine Justice, 17, of Endicott, Kentucky. [4]
  25. Emogene Darby, 17, of Cow Creek, Kentucky. [7] [2]
  26. Randy Scott Wallen, 17, of Lancer, Kentucky. [4]
  27. John Alex DeRossett, 27, of Prestonsburg, Kentucky. He was the driver of the bus. [5] [b]

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 Kentucky 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 Hot 100 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) 0.6 miles (0.97 km) east of the intersection of Route 302.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Rita Matney's age when she died in the crash differs by a year, depending on which source. The Courier-Journal lists her age as 8, [3] the Messenger lists her age as being 7. [4] The Kentucky National Guard document should be considered as the gold standard as to ages & facts. It lists Matney's age as being 8. [5]
  2. ↑ The Kentucky National Guard document lists DeRossett's age as being 27.

References

  1. 1 2 "Beneath the Big Sandy". TIME Magazine. 71 (10): 17. 10 March 1958. ISSN   0040-781X.
  2. 1 2 3 "Prestonburg Holds Burial Rites for 13 in Bus Tragedy." The Advocate-Messenger, March 5, 1958, pg 1.
  3. ↑ "Lists Give Names of 15 Taken Off Bus, 12 Missing, 20 Survivors" The Courier-Journal. March 3, 1958, pg. 1. https://img.newspapers.com/img/img?user=2596706&id=107795297&clippingId=31811619&width=820&height=955&crop=2338_3767_1720_2005&rotation=0
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "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
  5. 1 2 Trowbridge, John M.; LeMay, Jason M.; Hall., Jackie Branham (2008). "KENTUCKY NATIONAL GUARD 50th ANNIVERSARY REMEMBRANCE 1958 - 2008 The Prestonsburg School Bus Disaster 28 February – 10 May 1958" (PDF). Kentucky National Guard - EMuseum. Retrieved October 26, 2025.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Lima Resident Visits At Bus Tragedy Scene." The Lima Citizen. March 13, 1958, pg 7. https://www.newspapers.com/image/666000529/
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 "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/
  8. ↑ "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 

37°40′20″N82°43′11″W / 37.672199°N 82.719796°W / 37.672199; -82.719796

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