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 transport students to and from school or school-related activities, but not including a charter bus or transit bus ...

near

Prestonsburg, Kentucky Prestonsburg is a small home rule-class city in and the county seat of Floyd County, Kentucky, United States. It is in the eastern part of the state in the valley of the Big Sandy River. The population was 3,255 at the time of the 2010 censu ...

, 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 (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

history, tied for fatalities with the

Carrollton, Kentucky bus collision The Carrollton bus collision occurred on May 14, 1988, on Interstate 71 in unincorporated Carroll County, Kentucky. The collision involved a former school bus in use by a church youth group and a pickup truck driven by an alcohol-impaired drive ...

in 1988. The only deadlier crashes were a 1963 bus-train crash in Chualar, California and the 1976

Yuba City bus disaster The Yuba City bus disaster occurred on May 21, 1976 in Martinez, California. A chartered school bus transporting 52 passengers on an elevated offramp left the roadway, landing on its roof. Of the 52 passengers (not including the driver), 28 s ...

, 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 state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

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 Nati ...

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. Nat ...

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 44th and 49th governor. Aside from his political positions, he also ...

ordered 500 nationals 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, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...

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. # Reva Cheryl Matney, 7, of

."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 Emma is an unincorporated community and coal town in Floyd County, Kentucky, United States. A post office was established in the community in 1908. The origins of place name Emma are unclear: some hold it was named for the wife of the congressm ...

. "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. # 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 Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or doubl ...

. # 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 Cow Creek is an unincorporated community in Owsley County, Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States and one of ...

. # 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 Buffalo most commonly refers to: * Bubalina, including most "Old World" buffalo, such as water buffalo * Bison, including the American buffalo * Buffalo, New York Buffalo or buffaloes may also refer to: Animals * Bubalina, a subtribe of the tr ...

. # Glenda May Cisco, 16, of Sugar Loaf, Kentucky. # Joyce McPeak, 16. # 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 The Carrollton bus collision occurred on May 14, 1988, on Interstate 71 in unincorporated Carroll County, Kentucky. The collision involved a former school bus in use by a church youth group and a pickup truck driven by an alcohol-impaired drive ...

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 and requires a higher number of emergency exits than any other state or Canadian province.

Depiction in media

Several months later, two American recording artists released songs about the crash:

The Stanley Brothers The Stanley Brothers were an American bluegrass duo of singer-songwriters and musicians, made up of brothers Carter Stanley (August 27, 1925 – December 1, 1966) and Ralph Stanley (February 25, 1927 – June 23, 2016). Ralph and Carter perfo ...

, with "No School Bus in Heaven," and

Ralph Bowman Ralph Blaylock "Scotty" Bowman (June 20, 1911 in Winnipeg, Manitoba – October 17, 1990) was a Canadian ice hockey player. Bowman played seven seasons in the National Hockey League for the Ottawa Senators, St. Louis Eagles and Detroit Red Wings ...

, 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 adverti ...

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

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