On Sept. 5, 2006, a Fung Wah motorcoach rolled over onto its side on an off ramp of I.395/I.290 in Auburn, Ma. There were many injuries, mostly minor, and hurt passengers were taken to UMass Medical Center or waited at a nearby Auburn High School. After waiting 4 hours for a Fung Wah replacement bus be sent out of New York, the replacement bus operator was put out of service by Ma. state police for log violations and inability to speak and understand english.

Peter Pan was contracted to charter a coach and recover the waiting passengers.

Luckily our motorcoach operator was Karol Birdsall who brought compassion, sensitivity, and experience to the task. Here is her first-hand accound of what it was like to meet and transport this group of travelers who had recently been traumatized by the bus rollover...

By Karol Birdsall,

It started with a message left on my cell phone around 3:00 pm. It was my buddy Rich, (former trainee who didn't meet the Peter Pan standard, but still keeps in touch). His message said a Fung Wah bus had overturned somewhere near Worcester and I should check the news.

I reported for work at 6:00 pm. Dispatch called me while I was pulling in to see where I was and to grab Bus 748 and put it on Gate 1 and come in for instructions. I thought "Hmm New bus, Gate 1? Something's up"

After checking my medical cards, license, and logbook, Dispatch briefed me on my assignment. I was to drive to Worcester and be met by a police escort, who would take me to the unhurt Fung Wah accident victims and then transport them to Boston's South Station.....

As a former safety supervisor for a Special Needs Van transportation company in Springfield, I had been at accident scenes before and knew the chaos that might possibly await me at the scene.

After going through the Worcester tollbooths an Auburn Police Officer turned on his lights and led me slowly towards the accident site. I mention the word "slowly" because I appreciated his patience in making sure we both got through the 4-5 traffic lights together!

He led me into a parking lot just below the high school. There was the Fung Wah bus sitting on its wheels. The tow truck has just placed it there after getting it upright and was getting ready to remove it from the lot. The rear of the driver’s side looked to have the most damage. The last two windows were broken and there were huge scratches in the body from the drive wheels back to the taillights. The front windshield was completely gone. "Oh my god" was all I could think.

There was a large pile of luggage sitting to my right that the troopers motioned for me to pull up next to. There were approximately 5-6 state troopers/police officers waiting near the luggage. As I opened the door to step outside, 3 Officers approached me and one said, "Hello Ma'am, are you prepared for a full inspection?" He was smiling, so I smiled back and said "Absolutely!"

Before I could turn around and get my logbook and medical cards the Officer said, "I'm sure you are all set, you're too willing." He asked me to open my hatches and we proceeded to load the luggage. Some bags had popped open because the zippers had broken in the roll over. There were plastic bags full of miscellaneous items that the police had picked up from inside the bus. One officer approached me and said, "This is the driver, and can you take him over to the high school?" I said "Sure"

I remember looking closely at the driver. He didn't look hurt but the word to describe him at that moment was, very nervous and very humble. He just nodded at me twice when I asked him if he was ready to go. I asked him after he sat down if he was ok. He nodded and said "yes" and then leaned his head down on his arms on the headrest in front of him. I felt horribly sorry for him at that moment because I knew it was probably the first moment he had had away from the chaos of the afternoon.

I remember thinking to myself that this man had to be scared out of his mind. Not only had he survived a bus rollover and dealt with passengers in the aftermath, along with the police all afternoon, he also still had to face his family, his boss, and fellow drivers. His turmoil was certainly not over, but for these few minutes on my bus he would get peace before he faced the next part. I asked him again if he was ok and he nodded and said, "Yes, thank you".

The Police directed me over to the High School, which was only a few hundred feet up the street. When I pulled in between all the police cars and news trucks I noticed another Fung Wah bus parked to the side. I pulled up beside it and opened my door to let the driver out. A D.O.T. official approached me and (his name evades my memory) and told me he was to be "my bodyguard" from the press. He told me I didn't have to speak to them and that he just wanted to get the passengers loaded and get us on our way. These were the passengers who didn't require medical attention.

The press was everywhere. My bodyguard did a great job of keeping the reporters away. Of course I'm sure it was an impressive shot (and it was when I saw the video later) of that brand new Peter Pan bus rolling in to the rescue and I'm sure they wanted my opinion, but what the press didn't want to acknowledge is that I was there to just get these people home. They had experienced the crash of the bus, the hundreds of questions from the police, the reporter’s questions and now just wanted to go home to their families. The reporters just wanted more for their story, and the passengers just wanted to go home.

The passengers were sitting on the parked Fung Wah bus. I noticed a few Fung Wah representatives leaning against the fence. They smiled and nodded at me when I looked their way. I didn't know that one of them was the replacement driver who had been sent to pick these passengers up but failed to speak English or carry a legal logbook.

The passengers were being unloaded and walked to my bus. Each passenger looked at me as they stepped up into my bus. I don't blame them for sizing me up. As I said Hello to each one, they smiled nervously and asked me "you'll go slow right??" I nodded and tried to assure each one that it would be a smooth ride. These passengers were college kids, parents with children, middle aged, senior citizens, your normal mixed group of passengers, all of whom had experienced a bus accident and were nervous as hell about getting on another bus.

As they were loading I noticed one female reporter asking a police officer if she could interview the passengers as they boarded. He said No, and to let them board. She persisted and explained that she had the right to interview them. He reminded her that they had all afternoon to talk to the passengers and now they just wanted to get home. She persisted again and asked him to ask the passengers on my bus if they wanted to talk to the reporters. You could see the officer was annoyed with her aggression but he stepped onto the bus and asked them if anyone wanted to talk to press. No one wanted to. The officer stepped out and told her no one wanted to talk to them. She didn’t look happy with his answer.

After everyone was loaded my “bodyguard” told me that they had confirmation that the passengers who had been taken to hospital now were ready to be picked up. My instructions were to pick up from the high school and head to Boston but who am I to argue with the Police? I called Dispatch and let them know about the added pick up. Judy confirmed this was fine and to keep her posted.

A officer told me he would be leading me over to Umass/Medical and to just stay behind him. I walked around the bus to check out my reverse path between the Fung Wah bus and the vehicles parked on either side of this small “S” curve driveway. A few of the officers showed concern about whether I would be able to back out or not. I asked them to turn off their flashing lights and to leave on their marker lights and I would use them to reference my way out. It certainly wouldn’t look good if the rescue bus had trouble backing out of the parking lot but I think I made it look easier than it was.

The drive to Umass Hospital was a ballet in motion. I think the reporters wanted to beat us to the hospital and the police wanted to beat them there! How do you do this with a bus following you? I certainly want to give credit to those officers leading me and following me to Umass. The reporters gave chase but were swiftly cut off by officers at each intersection. It definitely was quite exciting to see but at the same time I tried to go along as smoothly as possible for my nervous riders!

Upon arriving at Umass, the police blocked off the entrance behind me. The reporters hadn’t had the chance to talk to passengers who had gone to the hospital and they were more than eager to try and get at them. The police formed a barricade on all sides of the hospital.

The injured started to exit the hospital. The first person I noticed was a younger college age woman who had a big bandage on her head. I couldn’t help but notice the dried blood all over her shirt. I’m squeamish with blood and such so I tried from that point NOT to look at their clothes. As this first group came out, I noticed many had neck collars on. One was on crutches. Some wore hospital gowns. Many had slings on one arm and a neck collar. A few walked up to the luggage bays and were very concerned about their luggage. After opening them up, many wanted to make sure everything was there. One college student was worried about his I-pod. We started going through the plastic bags that the police had collected from inside the bus. Once he found his I-pod, he calmed down and boarded.

As these passengers boarded I again fielded the questions of “Your going to drive slow right? Or “You’re a good driver?? I told them it would be the best ride they ever had. A middle-aged man walked up to the bus. I watched him look up and down the outside of the bus, taking it in. He was shaking. I saw him struggle with trying to get on the bus. Not because he wasn’t able to, but because he was afraid to. He wavered for a moment and then finally plunged forward as if forcing himself to get on board.

An elderly woman proceeded towards me. I heard her sigh, “oh lord” as she went to step on. The next thing I knew she was falling back into my arms. I wasn’t prepared to hold her up so I just stepped back and lowered her to the ground slowly. The police jumped into action over the fainted woman. She came to, and wanted to get up but at this point she isn’t going anywhere but back into the hospital, because she’s said her arm was tingling.

The magnitude of this whole event is creating a lump in my throat because I can see that these passengers are so scared to have to get onto another bus. It’s heartbreaking to watch a child shake his head at his mother as he is carried towards my bus. He doesn’t want to get on and he doesn’t understand why he has to. How can I reassure them? How can I make them feel safe after what they have lived through earlier in the day? It’s absolutely a miracle that no one was killed, but still just coming so close to death has had it’s effect on them, and now they must board another bus.

The police gave me directions to I90. I would be going up Route 9 towards I495, then catch I90 East. I was glad that their first few miles with me would be on a slower paced road as opposed to the highway. The police made sure that my exit from the hospital was smooth and no reporters following.

As I drove up Route 9 the woman in the front seat directly to my right was talking to a relative on her cell phone. I could hear her tell how she had hung by her fingers (from the window rail) after the bus had turned over. She described trying to wait for the passenger below her to move so she wouldn’t land on her. I heard her say, “I just couldn’t hang on any longer”. Another passenger on his cell phone was describing how the Fung Wah driver didn’t slow down on the ramp. I could hear a child crying in the back of the bus. I could hear people talking about calling their lawyers in the morning. Some were talking on their phones trying to reassure their loved ones they were ok.

Just before we got to I495 my cell phone rang. I usually have my headset on and the ringer just beeps once. Not the case tonight. The song “So you had a bad day” blares out from my holstered cell phone and I frantically try to push the outside “mute” button. As the song plays I hear a few of the passengers chuckling. “Wow, isn’t that song appropriate” the person behind me says chuckling. I apologize profusely for my phones outburst. More chuckles as those behind me talk about how much that song relates to the day they’ve had. I checked the missed call later, Thank you Bob Maloney for picking that moment to call me and giving my nervous riders something to laugh about.

The exit ramp from I495 to I90 is sharp. I slowed way down on my approach. I could hear the intake of breath as I started the turn and the outward breath of 52 people as I finished the curve. Their first ramp since the afternoon accident and they got through it fine!

South Station. It’s 9:00 pm after an easy ride on the pike at 60 mph with the 4 way flashers on; they are ready to go home. I received hugs from senior citizens; hand shakes from some of the men, and a smile and pat on my shoulder from others for the safe ride. Now comes the hard part. Fung Wah passengers are used to retrieving their own luggage. After a huge misunderstanding with the baggage department at South Station (another story for another time) I found myself racing these injured people into my luggage bays to get their luggage out. One lady with a neck collar on and a sling on her arm is sliding on her rear end into the bay trying to get her bag. I can’t keep up with them all as I tried to grab their bags and help them out of the luggage bay. They didn’t understand that I would get it for them. The guy with the crutches is trying to hook his suitcase with his crutch. My knee’s are on fire from the sharp recessed groove flooring of the luggage bay. I remember crawling through the braces and trying to convince one woman that I would get that bag for her. She looked at me and said “thank you” I forgot the knee pain when she kissed me on the cheek and just kept saying “thank you, thank you”

After a few questions from some on where to go for missing luggage, or who to call, I’m left standing there with two bags that haven’t been taken. Did I have the energy to drag them over to the Fung Wah counter? I’m on Gate 6 in South Station and the Fung Wah counter looks miles away. I walked over to their counter and introduced myself. I asked who speaks English and one raised his hand. I told him I had just brought the passengers from their accident earlier and there were some bags left over, would he come get them? He nodded and followed me over. Once he had the bags in his arms he said “thank you” I nodded and closed my luggage bays. I sat in the drivers seat and started to decompress a bit before heading back to Springfield. My Nextel rang. It was Les. “Are you up for another rescue??” I asked him what he had and he told me he had some stranded passengers at Newton Riverside that needed to get to Hartford. I updated my logbook and backed off the gate. Just another exciting day at Peter Pan!
--by Operator Karol Birdsall