Two months after the nation’s deadliest accident in years, federal investigators say they cannot get access to the limo and other evidence.
More than two months after a limousine crashed in upstate New York, killing 20 people, federal investigators say they still have not been allowed to inspect the vehicle or records associated with the accident, the deadliest in the nation in nearly a decade.
In a recent letter sent to Susan J. Mallery, the district attorney in Schoharie County, where the wreck occurred, the National Transportation Safety Board said that its investigators “have been denied access to the crash vehicle, the other vehicles operated by the company and relevant reports and records” related to the Oct. 6 accident in Schoharie, about 40 miles west of Albany.
“We are gravely concerned that your lack of responsiveness to our requests has seriously impeded our abilities to carry out our congressionally-mandated duties to properly complete this safety investigation and potentially prevent similar accidents in the future,” wrote the board’s general counsel, Kathleen Silbaugh. The letter, dated Dec. 14, was first reported by WRGB in Albany.
Among the items sought by federal investigators are photographs and video of the wrecked limo, a modified 2001 Ford Excursion, which careened down a country highway with 17 members of a birthday party on board.
