ANDREWS, Texas — The National Transportation Safety Board has released the final report regarding the crash that killed nine people in March 2022, including members of the University of the Southwest golf team.
The 15-page report from December gives more insight on the crash and inspired the NewsWest 9 special "Connected in Tragedy": The USW Golf Team.
On March 15, 2022 at about 8:17 p.m., a pickup truck and a van towing a trailer crashed on FM 1788 in Andrews, TX.
According to NTSB, the truck crossed the centerline and collided nearly head-on with the van. The crash initiated a fire that engulfed the van and truck.
Seven people in the van and two people in the truck died due to the flames, with two van passengers seriously injured.
The pickup truck was driven by 38-year-old Henrich Siemens, and his 13-year-old son was a passenger.
The van consisted of the USW golf team. The fallen includes the driver of the vehicle Coach Tyler James and six players: Mauricio Sanchez, Travis Garcia, Jackson Zinn, Karisa Raines, Laci Stone and Tiago Sousa. The only survivors of the entire crash were USW golf players Dayton Price and Hayden Underhill.
USW Van Occupants
According to the report, Siemens, the driver of the truck, had numerous traffic violations, some of them happening before he got his license. In the 10-year period before the crash, Siemens had 23 traffic violations, 10 of which were related to driving without a license or a suspended license and nine of which for speeding, along with a DWI. One of these violations was of Siemens driving 105-mph in a 75-mph zone. He also previously had a DWI. His most recent suspension was in May 2018 until May 2019.
The postmortem toxicology testing of Siemen's blood identified meth "at a concentration of 1,900 nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL) and amphetamine, a meth metabolite, at a concentration of 250 ng/mL", according to NMS Labs. Federal Aviation Administration Forensic Sciences Lab also tested the blood and tested at 1,949 ng/mL of meth and 185 ng/mL of amphetamine.
The conclusion of the report says the NTSB determined that the probable cause of the crash was the "truck driver's excessive speed and his crossing into the ongoing lane of travel, likely because of impairment from methamphetamine use."
Read the whole 15-page report, that included background, an event sequence, analysis and more, here:
To see the full one-year special about this crash, watch Connected in Tragedy: The USW Golf team.