Chattanooga Bus Crash: Death Toll Rises, Bus Company CEO Offers Tearful Apology

CHATTANOOGA, TN — The National Transportation Safety Board has begun its investigation into Monday's school bus accident that killed six Chattanooga elementary school students.

As the Chattanooga community mourns the loss of six children, the CEO of the bus company behind the crash issued a tearful apology to the parents grieving on Thanksgiving.

"Nothing I can say, can take away the pain and the grief for these families," said Durham School Services CEO David A. Duke. "What I can say is that I am deeply sorry for the children that were taken from their families with so much life before them."

Duke vowed to seek answers for the tragedy.

At a press briefing Tuesday, NTSB officials said their on-scene investigation will take seven to 10 days, but the full report could take as long as 18 months to prepare.

"With any NTSB investigation, the goal from a safety perspective is to determine not just what happened but why it happened and possibly make safety recommendations to prevent it from happening again," NTSB spokesman Keith Holloway told the Times Free Press.

"Investigators will examine the vehicle involved, collect maintenance records, medical records of the driver, conduct interviews with those involved and other witnesses."

NTSB officials plan to interview the driver, Johnthony Walker, 24, who was arrested and charged with five counts of vehicular homicide, reckless endangerment and reckless driving. There was also at least one witness to the crash, as a car was behind the bus when it crashed. Walker, who received his commercial license in April, had previously had his standard license suspended for failure to provide insurance.

Durham School Services, the Illinois company contracted to provide school transportation services for Hamilton County, has had 346 crashes in the last two years, with 142 of those causing injury. Thirty-six of those crashes were in Tennessee, including one fatal wreck, according to federal records. While Durham has a satisfactory rating from the federal government, records show that it has more problems with driver fitness than 93 percent of similar bus and trucking companies, according to The Tennessean.

Image via Chattanooga Fire Department