The National Safety Transportation Board released this image of the Oct. 6, 2018, limo crash site in Schoharie, N.Y. in a Feb. 11, 2019, preliminary report. The arrow shows the direction that the lilmo took to apparently avoid a car that was at the stop sign at the "T" intersection at the time. The NTSB is investigating the crash in order to issue safety recommendations to prevent similar tragedies in the future.
New details from the National Transportation Safety Board appear to indicate that the driver in the deadly Oct. 6 limousine crash in Schoharie swerved out of the way of a car stopped at the bottom of a long hill on Route 30 before careening into the parking lot of the Apple Barrel Country
That description, included in a preliminary report made public by the NTSB on Monday, matches a Times Union report published in November that revealed the account of a witness whose car was stopped at the bottom of Route 30 just seconds before the crash occurred.
The witness, who had another passenger in the car, told investigators that as they were at the stop sign at the intersection with Route 30A, the stretch 2001 Ford Excursion sped down the hill behind them and swerved out of the way and flew through the intersection.
Sal Ferlazzo, an Albany attorney who is representing the family of crash victim Amanda Rivenburg, said he has interviewed the same witness as part of the civil lawsuit he has filed against Prestige Limousine of Wilton, which owned the Excursion.
Ferlazzo said the witness at the stop sign, whom he did not identify, was terrified when the limo came speeding down the hill.
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But the limo driver, Scott Lisinicchia, steered the car to the left, Ferlazzo said. The move spared the occupants of the stopped car from becoming two more victims of the tragedy.
"It did swerve," Ferlazzo said of the Excursion. "I thought perhaps the driver had had a stroke or heart attack, but they made a maneuver. At least he was in some control. It's shocking that they just didn't plow into them."
All 17 passengers aboard, as well as Lisinicchia, died after the Excursion hit a Toyota Highlander in the parking lot at the Apple Barrel and then drove into a ravine where it collided with an embankment. Authorities have said all the deaths aboard the limo were caused by blunt-force trauma.
Two bystanders, Brian Hough and his father-in-law James Schnurr, were also killed in the store's parking lot. They had stopped on their way to a wedding with other family members and were walking across the lot when the limo struck their Toyota Highlander.
"The limousine's impact with the SUV caused the SUV to subsequently strike and kill two of the approaching pedestrians," the NTSB report states.
The operator of the limousine company, Nauman Hussain, has been charged with one count of criminally negligent homicide; he had pleaded not guilty. The company is owned by his father, Shahed Hussain, who has been in Pakistan since before the crash. Although Shahed Hussain is not facing any criminal charges, he is named as a defendant in the civil lawsuit along with his son Nauman.
Although the NTSB report does not mention anything about the potential cause of the crash, court filings in the criminal case indicate that potential brake failure is a major focus of the investigation being handled by State Police.
According to the Times Union's report from November, the same witness who was stopped at the intersection had told investigators they had passed by the limo further up the hill while they were driving down Route 30.
The limo, which had been hired to take a group of friends and family members from Amsterdam to Cooperstown, had pulled over on the shoulder of the road, the witness said, and was slowly rolling forward with its reverse lights on and backup sensor beeping.
It's unclear why the driver might have pulled over, or if he was attempting to put the car in reverse. That section of Route 30 between the intersection with Route 7 and Route 30A is about two miles long and is steep at times. The posted speed limit is 55 mph; it is easy to gain speed quickly.
State Police have not released any of the details of their investigation of the case, which is being done in coordination with the Schoharie County District Attorney's office. The NTSB says more details will be made public in a factual report that will be issued later. The final report will also include a probable cause assessment and safety recommendations.
Source: https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/NTSB-report-shows-limo-avoided-car-before-crash-13609951.php#photo-16910856
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