BIG SPRING, Texas —
The National Transportation Safety Board has released its final report on a deadly 2021 crash involving an Andrews ISD bus.
According to the NTSB, at about 4:02 p.m. on Nov. 19, 2021, a 2016 Ford F-350 service truck was traveling in the wrong direction in the eastbound lanes of Interstate 20, near Big Spring, Texas.
The truck hit a 2005 MCI motorcoach carrying 25 members of the Andrews High School band and three adults nearly head-on.
The truck then sideswiped a 2018 Freightliner bus.
The front end of the Andrews ISD bus was damaged, the truck caught fire and the Freightliner bus sustained minor damage.
Three people died in the crash. The Texas Department of Public Safety identified them as 59-year-old Nathan Haile of Midland, 69-year-old Marc Boswell of Andrews and 53-year-old Darin Johns of Andrews.
Boswell was the driver of the Andrews ISD bus, Johns was the director of the school band and Haile was the driver of the service truck.
50 more passengers of the school bus and Freightliner bus sustained injuries ranging from minor to serious.
The accident sparked a wave of support from communities across West Texas.
Since the crash, several tests conducted by the NTSB were able to determine Haile was likely not on the phone, under the influence of drugs or alcohol or experiencing a medical event at the time of the crash. Weather and traffic signage were also not a factor in the crash.
In fact, the report states that Haile passed seven signs that would have indicated he was driving the wrong way.
The wreck also inspired the Texas Department of Transportation to conduct a review of wrong-way crashes near 3rd and 4th streets in Big Spring. The Andrews ISD crash and 10 others in the area that involved wrong-way drivers led to TxDOT Abilene district to focus on improvements such as more frequent use of do-not-enter signs, wrong-way signs and movement prohibition signs, as well as the use of lane arrows and pavement markings.
To read the full NTSB report as well as the investigation information to this point, click or tap the link here.