Airbase bus crashes, 13 receive minor injuries

A military bus from Mountain Home AFB carrying 27 people blew a tire and crashed on Highway 51 at milepost 60, about seven miles south of Bruneau Thursday afternoon, sending 13 people to the hospital with what turned out to be minor injuries.

The vehicle, similar to a school bus and designed to carry 28 total passengers, was returning from an Air Force training range site south of Bruneau where members of the 726th Air Control Squadron had been setting up an exercise. Besides the driver, 25 of the 26 passengers were from that squadron.

According to Owyhee County Sheriff Gary Aman, "the driver did an excellent job from keeping it from rolling, which could have resulted in a number of serious injuries." Like school buses, only the driver is equipped with a seat belt.

The Owyhee County Sheriff's Office received the report of the incident at 4:53 p.m. Thursday afternoon. The preliminary investigation indicated that the bus blew a right front tire, went off the right side of the road, down a short embankment and then hit a berm. The bus was traveling at about 50 mph at the time of the incident, well below the speed limit, "because it's open range down there," said Maj. Damien Pickart of the MHAFB Public Affairs Office.

Three people were taken from the scene by LifeFlight to St. Alphonus Regional Medical Center where they were treated and released that evening. Pickart said the three were taken because of possible head and neck injuries and authorities wanted to take advantage of the trauma center facilities there to fully evaluate their condition.

Another seven people were taken by ambulance from the scene to the base hospital for evaluation of their injuries, "and another three came in later, on their own, after the adrenaline had gone down, later that evening," Pickart said.

Everyone was treated and released, "although I think there's going to be a lot of sore people," following the incident, Pickart said. "Fortunately, everyone was OK."

Owyhee County Sheriff's authorities said the accident scene was well controlled as the military personnel "knew how to handle themselves."

Pickart noted that the bus driver has been receiving high praise from everyone he talked to who was involved in the accident for his skill in controlling the vehicle.

What caused the tire to blow was not immediately known. The heavily damaged vehicle was towed back to the base later that day.