The ghastly remains of the limousine after being dragged from the creek bed.
Google Earth overview of death traphttps://earth.app.goo.gl/roiAK9
Who they werehttps://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Schoharie-Limo-Crash-Victims-What-We-Know-13290063.php
Just yards from where I was standing, the lives of 20 people came to a sudden end.
Around 2 p.m. Saturday a stretch limousine packed with party-goers caromed off a parked SUV and flew into a creek bed, where it smashed into a huge tree trunk that hung sideways over the stream. Two pedestrians, a professor and his father-in-law, were killed when their SUV lurched into them as their wives and the professor's 9-year-old son stood by.
No skid marks were visible at the intersection of Routes 30 and 30A in Schoharie, N.Y.
The limo had come down a long, winding grade along Route 30 and crossed Route 30A into the parking lot of the Apple Barrel Country Store and Cafe, where it ricocheted off the SUV and landed in the stream bed with a loud explosion. Patrons rushed from the restaurant, helpless as shrieks resounded from the dying.
Today a few passers-by milled about a roadside shrine. Nearby, one could see the narrow ruts made when the limo, lacking front wheels, was pulled from the woodland and put on a truck bed. As one looks at the 20 carved crosses, not too far beyond is the tree -- with large pieces of bark missing -- that brought the day's excursion to a grisly end.
The Apple Barrel restaurant proprietors had had enough of the media frenzy of previous days. Large signs proclaimed, "No media" and "Out of respect for the families, no more media." As a former reporter, I understand that frustration. Yet, it seemed to me that the press was not disrespecting anyone. They were just doing their jobs.
A large electronic road sign on Route 30A South, just past Interstate 88, warned drivers to slow down. Apparently it had been placed there because of all the activity just ahead, though today there wasn't much going on.
I drove that last downhill route taken by the limousine.
Evidently the bottom of that hill was known as a bad intersection because on occasion trucks have lost control and ended up unable to make the turn quickly enough at the intersection, requiring them to roll into the parking lot, which is at a slight angle to the left from where Route 30 meets Route 30A. Yet there were at least two large signs warning trucks of a sharp grade, signs that the limo driver should have seen to caution him. After all, he had 17 passengers aboard. I would think a careful driver would have taken note of those gradient warnings.
The intersection however is obscured, though not invisible when approaching Route 30A. I was expecting the upcoming "T," so I knew to be on the lookout. When I saw the road ahead as I came around a bend, I had plenty of time to stop. I was doing about 40. Had a driver been doing 60, I would estimate he would have had time to stop -- if he noticed the partly obscured Route 30A ahead. But, one can imagine that a car full of young party-goers was loud and jovial, meaning the driver might have been distracted for a moment or two.
Google Earth overview of stopping problemFrom about the third house up Route 30 (pointing upward on screen), a driver can see the Route 30A roadway partly obscured by trees. Once the T-intersection roadway comes into full view of a downhill driver, stopping distance becomes problematic.https://earth.google.com/web/@42.70141322,-74.29924625,213.69707175a,791.38466732d,35y,0h,0t,0r
It has been reported that the group of young friends and relatives was doing a tour of wineries and breweries, and was headed for Ommegang, a popular Cooperstown brewery 42 miles west of the crash site after visiting a winery. An autopsy will show whether the driver had imbibed while on the job.
On the other hand, mechanical problems pose another possibility. Erin R. McGowan, 34, texted a friend minutes before her death: “The motor is making everyone deaf," adding, “When we get to brewery we will all b deaf.” And in a report Oct. 12, The New York Times said that at 1:40 p.m., 15 minutes before the crash, Allison King, 31, texted her fiance. “She said the brakes were burning and they were coasting,” the Times quoted Allison's mother as saying.
This might indicate she was smelling the brake pads burning as the calipers failed to let go, or it could point to a failing transmission. If the car reached the bottom of the hill without brakes, control would have been a major problem. Yet if Allison's text was sent 15 minutes before her death, the limo would have not yet reached the downgrade and so one is left with the question as to why the driver, Scott Lisinicchia, 53, didn't pull over and call for a replacement vehicle.
Once the limo arrived at the intersection at what police estimated as 50 mph, there would have been no chance of making a turn, right or left, though it appears the driver tried to turn because he entered the parking lot rather than hurtling straight into the woods.
As I gazed at the gashed tree where the fun-loving young friends met their end, thoughts of a long-ago war where so many young people died drifted across my mind.
I like to think I am no longer affected by those gruesome images of yore. But I suppose I am still bothered.
Eerie incident on second drive
At 2.19 p.m. Oct. 21, a Sunday, I was 9.1 miles from the crash site on the Thruway when my GPS screen froze. It stayed frozen until I left the accident site, righting itself after it turned on as I left. When I arrived at the site however I was unable to turn it off. That has never happened before -- although my Garmin GPS is sometimes very cranky.
Driving south from Amsterdam, the youthful party crowd's limo headed down Route 30, a typical New York State country road that seems to go from one barn to the next, making it a bit winding. Pretty farms and fields whizzed past. Signs warned to watch out for cattle. An old sign advertising "Computer Repairs" hung on one farm gate. High tension power lines graced the sky at one point, a church steeple at another. One rustic town they passed through hosts a fire station, which doubtless sent people and equipment to the accident site.
Some curves are quite tight, but no problem for an experienced driver. But if the driver was having brake trouble, he may have thought that the inclines were not all that bad, as Route 30 goes downhill rather slowly before the last 1.2-mile sharp and winding drop. Authorities are still studying brake issues, but if the car had the original brakes plus all the weight from the riders and from the stretch add-on, it is quite conceivable that they could not have held on the last downgrade.
According to TheDrive web site,
The 2001 Excursion stretch probably weighed around 10,000 pounds, or around 3,000 than a stock model from that year. Add around 2,700 pounds in passenger weight, and you end up with a mass that would chew through stock brakes—especially on a mile long downhill stretch.
http://www.thedrive.com/news/24302/the-stretch-limos-fatal-flaw
"Any livery vehicle that old, even well maintained, should not still be in service, says [one expert]. “Especially in the Northeast with severe weather and rough roads taking a brutal toll on even the best-maintained vehicles. The brake fittings corrode from the salt, the brake lines can rub through.”
Dominick Vitelli knows how important it is to upgrade the brakes when you add that much weight in both vehicle and added passengers. But during the boom years, some companies cut corners. “Some guys were using cheap fittings that were corroding before the car even went into service.”
Vitelli, CEO of Quality Coachworks in Ontario, CA., has been in the stretch limo business for 30 years and has seen the good and the bad. When I asked him about the lack of seat belts in the back of limos, he shared that he’s seen cars were operators cut belts out completely or stuffed them down into the cushions.
On that downgrade, the doomed revelers and their driver flew past woodland and occasional houses as the road narrowed, making control of such a vehicle tricky. Though the driver did not have the proper license for carrying passengers, he was an experienced trucker. Yet, before trucks were barred at the top of the hill at Route 7, several ended up in the restaurant's parking lot off Route 30A, though no one was hurt.
As they passed Route 7, took a curve flanked by a stand of pine trees, drove over the Albany-Binghamton connector Interstate 88 and reached the crest of the downgrade, the riders got their last look at the beautiful Schoharie Valley, where in a minute or so they would meet their end. A flat-top mountain is seen in the distance.
The standard 55 mph speed limit posted at the top of the hill is quickly followed by a 50 mph sign. I noticed at the bottom that 50 was a bit too fast, though probably manageable with adequate brakes. Also, on this drive I observed that Route 30A did not appear to be particularly obscured. I am assuming that brush was cleared to improve visibility.
The limo landed not far from an unused building proclaiming "Wicked neat stuff" for sale. Ironically, the adjacent restaurant features a "great selection of New York State wines and beers." The attached boutique has an assortment of "wicked neat" items aimed at tourists on country outings.
Arty signs in the eatery: "You get what you get and you don't throw a fit." "I can't help falling in love with you."
A makeshift memorial atop the culvert that guides the stream into the bed where the limo landed is strewn with bouquets of flowers, studded with wooden crosses with notes from the living on them, and adorned with lights and candles. Covering a large cross are notes, including one reading, "Sgt. (ret.) Michael O. Ukaj, Love, Mom and Dad." Ukaj was a 34-year-old veteran.
Others killed were sweethearts Amanda Halse, 26, and Patrick Cushing, 31; Erin and Shane McGowan, 34 and 30 respectively; and Amy and Axel Steenburg, both 29.
Also Mary and Rob Dyson, 33 and 34; Abigail and Adam Jackson, both 34; and Rich Steenburg, 34;
Also Amanda Rivenburg, 29; Rachael Cavosie, 30; and sweethearts Matthew Coons and Savannah Bursese, 27 and 23.
All were limo passengers.
Brian Hough and James Schnurr, 46 and 70, were killed by their own SUV as it slammed into them after being struck by the limo.
Hometowns of deceasedLimousine Passengers:
Axel J. Steenburg, 29, Amsterdam, NY
Richard M. Steenburg, 34, Johnstown, NY
Amy L. Steenburg, 29, Amsterdam, NY
Allison King, 31, Ballston Spa, NY
Mary E. Dyson, 33, Watertown, NY
Robert J. Dyson, 34, Watertown, NY
Abigail M. Jackson, 34, Amsterdam, NY
Matthew W. Coons, 27, Johnstown, NY
Savannah D. Bursese, 24, Johnstown, NY
Patrick K. Cushing, 31, Troy, NY
Amanda D. Halse, 26, Troy, NY
Erin R. McGowan, 34, Amsterdam, NY
Shane T. McGowan, 30, Amsterdam, NY
Amanda Rivenburg, 29, Colonie, NY
Adam G. Jackson, 34, Amsterdam, NY
Rachael K. Cavosie, 30, Waterford, NY
Michael C. Ukaj, 34, Johnstown, NY
Limousine Driver:
Scott T. Lisinicchia, 53, Lake George, NY
Pedestrians:
Brian Hough, 46, Moravia, NY
James Schnurr, 70, Kerhonkson, NY
Post script: I haven't been able to shake the feeling I get when looking upon photos of the victims that I have known a number of them personally -- even though I haven't. I suppose that might stem from my age. Certain physical and personality types tend to recur. So one thinks, "Say I recognize him or her" because of the similarity in appearance to someone one knew not so long ago. The other factor in this connection is also, I would say, a product of my age: the realization that we are all brothers and sisters, sons and daughters...
Memorial sceneshttps://dailygazette.com/article/2018/10/14/schoharie-limo-tragedy-scenes-from-friday-and-saturday
More Times Union photoshttps://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Oct-28-benefit-concert-set-for-families-of-limo-13310958.php#photo-16326566
Prof, father-in-law mown down
as three relatives are sparedhttps://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2018/10/oswego_prof_killed_in_upstate_ny_limo_crash_was_enroute_to_wedding_when_tragedy.html
End of the road? On Hegel and Deathhttp://zion78.blogspot.com/2018/10/end-of-road.html
2 brothers were like peanut butter and jellyhttps://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/brothers-killed-fatal-limo-crash-were-peanut-butter-jelly-n925036
They aren't coming home: 4 daughters mournedhttps://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/17/nyregion/schoharie-limo-crash-victims-sisters.htmlFrom there, the facts settled in more slowly: They were now grandparents to three orphans, a 16-month-old, a 2-year-old and a 4-year-old.
'God made a mistake,' says 10-year-old daughterhttps://www.wlwt.com/article/god-made-a-mistake-family-remembers-brothers-lost-in-horrific-limo-crash/24215439
Road leaves drivers few optionshttps://dailygazette.com/article/2018/10/20/letters-to-the-editor
'They were the perfect couple'https://cnycentral.com/news/local/fundraiser-to-benefit-moravia-woman-who-lost-husband-father-in-horrific-limo-crash
Limo owners sued in Rivenberg deathhttps://media.news10.com/nxs-wtentv-media-us-east-1/document_dev/2018/11/19/Filed%20S_AMP_C_1542648085824_62612398_ver1.0.pdf
