NY Town Notes 50th Anniversary Of Horrific School Bus Crash

CONGERS, NY — On the 50th anniversary of the morning when a school bus was smashed by a train in a quiet suburban town north of New York City, killing or injuring 48 children in a tragedy that reverberated across the United States, town and school officials joined a survivors of the crash at a ceremony of remembrance.

"I was there, in school bus 596, on my way to high school," Bill Thompson, the last speaker at the event, told the gathered crowd. "I came here today not to relive those terrible, unbelievable moments but to remember the courage of all those who rose to the occasion so gallantly and selflessly."

School bus No. 596 was headed to Nyack High School. Late and detouring due to sewer construction, driver Joseph Larkin turned onto Gilchrest Road and down the hill to an ungated railroad crossing and into the path of an oncoming Penn Central freight train of 83 cars.

"In the words of train staff member George Gray 'a flash of yellow appeared' as the bus hurtled in front of the train," Town Supervisor George Hoehmann wrote in an article for Facebook and the Rockland County Times and shared with Patch. "While the crew reacted immediately, sounding alarms and throwing the emergency brake, nothing could be done to stop the collision that occurred. George Gray later recalled to a reporter that he 'will never forget the faces of the children framed in the windows of the bus with their mouths open just before the impact.'"

The bus was split in half, its front impaled on the locomotive and pushed more than 1000 feet south of the intersection.

First on the scene was Joan Fitzgerald, a volunteer with the Congers Volunteer Ambulance Corps who lived on Third Street and was alerted by her 10-year-old son John who saw the crash happen from his upstairs bedroom window. She called the police, grabbed first aid supplies and ran to the train.

Police, fire and ambulance personnel responded from all over Rockland County to the devastating scene of dead and critically injured children. Nyack Hospital called in all staff and canceled all elective surgeries.

Five students — Jimmy McGuiness, Richard Macaylo, Robert Mauterer, Thomas Grosse and Stephen Ward — died and 43 other Nyack High School students were injured, many severely impaired and several losing limbs.

McGuiness and Macaylo were pronounced dead at the scene. Mauterer was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital. Grosse's death was announced during the funeral for the first three, three days later. Ward died 19 days after the crash.

The National Transportation and Safety Board investigated and found the train crew had followed correct procedures for approaching the crossing. In 1973 Larkin, a New York City firefighter who drove school buses part-time, was convicted of five counts of criminally negligent homicide and sentenced to probation and community service. He died in 2000.

In the aftermath, a push for marked and gated railroad crossings occurred all across the country. Construction of and safety features of school buses improved and in many cases were mandated. The 1972 School Bus Safety Act was passed, leading to New York's 19A Driver Safety Program.

Thompson said though many of the details of the story recounted by earlier speakers had eluded him over the years, the day is etched in his mind. "I have always asked myself why was I allowed to survive?" he said. "Most of us that day have moved on with our lives recognizing how fragile life truly is."

Having the world move forward in some way because of the tragedy was important, he said, citing changes in safety and infrastructure that he knows about in part through a career as a civil engineer working in transportation. "Still more needs to be done," he said.

"I am forever grateful for the first responders and the care we were given at Nyack Hospital and from the community at large," Thompson said, mentioning not only the doctors and nurses but the teams who helped the injured with their physical and emotional trauma.

"And most importantly my wife Kim, who came to help me 50 years ago as a volunteer candy-striper that day," he said, his voice cracking.

The community was filled with shock and grief. In a sense, every family in town lost a loved one, Hoehmann said at the ceremony. "We also recall with gratitude the bravery of the children who fought to survive. We remember the skillfulness and heroism of so many ... who answered the call that day and undoubtedly saved lives and limbs."

Hoehmann presented a bouquet of flowers to Fitzgerald, who attended the ceremony with her son and daughter.

"Finally," he said, "we honor those who had the courage and ability to rebuild their lives after tragedy and adversity, the families and the students who lost loved ones, and the injured who despite trauma were able to survive and indeed eventually thrive against all odds. In Clarkstown we promise never to forget."

Congers Memorial Park is dedicated to the children on that bus. The plaque originally set there in September 1972 was recently refurbished and is mounted on a larger boulder in front of the town swimming pool complex.