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I'm so glad the limo guy's son has been arrested! Hopefully there's enough dirt on him to actually keep him behind bars.

On a different note, I just read some telling comments from the King sisters' brother:

“The girls are being buried together, although I don’t think I can say buried because all my sisters are being cremated,” sibling Tom King said outside his parents’ home in rural Amsterdam, about 35 miles northwest of Albany.

“It depends on the release of their bodies,” said King, 36. “As of last night, [authorities had] only ID’d 10 bodies,’’ or half of those killed in the horror.

King, one of seven siblings, said authorities “asked us for dental records, and tattoo and jewelry identification.”

If they haven't identified all the bodies yet and are asking for dental records and tattoo identification, the bodies are probably in very bad shape, not intact, etc.
 
There’s actually a lot of new info in that article I linked to above involving 2 of the key questions in this case so far: was that limo on the road legally & was the limo driver properly licensed- the DOT says No but the lawyer for Prestige Limo says Yes...
...
Kindlon said the state DOT conducted a periodic inspection last week and found minor infractions, including a broken window latch and faulty windshield wipers, but the issues were fixed. The DOT ruled the limo "roadworthy" last week, he said.

"I respectfully disagree with Gov. Cuomo. I would just ask for the investigation to take place so we can figure out exactly why the vehicle crashed," Kindlon said, adding that no recent failure or minor safety issues led to the crash.

State DOT spokesman Joe Morrissey, however, called the assertion that the limo had been cleared to be on the road "categorically false."

"The vehicle was subject to inspections, and the owner was warned not to operate the vehicle," he said. "The vehicle was placed out of service."
Was the driver properly licensed?
Kindlon also contends that the driver -- Scott Lisinicchia, 53, of Lake George -- was properly licensed, and that Prestige had checked multiple times with the state Department of Motor Vehicles, which confirmed Lisinicchia was in compliance.

Lisinicchia, who worked for Prestige as needed, had been with the company for years, the attorney said, and was a "very reliable employee and a great driver."

Investigators have said that determining Lisinicchia's state -- namely, whether he was impaired or fatigued in any way at the time of the crash -- will be integral to their probe.

The driver's brother, Keith Lisinicchia, told CNN affiliate WRGB that Scott Lisinicchia also drove tractor trailers and dump trucks and took his job seriously. He can't see his brother driving without the proper license, he told the station.

"I know that he always made sure that it was valid and was in order," he said.

The driver's wife, too, says he was an excellent driver and told CBS that she doesn't understand why there is so much focus on the license "because even if he didn't have the proper license, this still would have happened, and I feel like he still would have got blamed."

She said Prestige "should've been more responsible" when it had people's lives in its hands, according to CBS.

CNN's attempts to reach Kim Lisinicchia have been unsuccessful. Grant & Longworth, a law firm with which she has consulted, said in a statement the family requests privacy.

"The family believes that unbeknownst to (Scott Lisinicchia), he was provided with a vehicle that was neither roadworthy nor safe for any of its occupants," the statement said, without elaborating.

Prestige is looking into Lisinicchia's history as part of an internal investigation, Kindlon said. It's also collecting maintenance records, driver logs and ownership records, which it will turn over to authorities, he said.
Was the limo roadworthy?
Local, state and federal investigators are still trying to figure out why Lisinicchia plowed the Excursion through a stop sign and into a parked SUV on Saturday.
A focal point of the investigation will deal with the aftermarket modifications involved in converting the Ford SUV into a limousine. Investigators will also home in on the company's history.

Authorities seized three of the company's vehicles, as well as the modified limo involved in the crash, State Police Maj. Robert Patnaude said.

The company underwent five inspections in the last two years and had four vehicles taken out of service in that time, federal records show.

Kindlon says the vehicles taken off the road were sold or transferred, while those with safety or mechanical issues were repaired and returned to the fleet. But records from a September 4 inspection show the Excursion was taken "out of service," meaning it was prohibited from being on the road because it posed a hazard.

Among the problems behind that designation were a lack of or defective emergency exits, seating in excess of the manufacturer's designed capacity and an unspecified violation of the requirement to keep records dealing with inspection, repair and maintenance of parts and accessories, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

The inspection also yielded seven lesser violations that did not warrant the vehicle being taken off the road. Among them: improper display of the carrier's name and/or federal DOT number, registration or license plate violation, a problem with the hydraulic brakes, inoperable or defective windshield wipers and a failure to repair defects noted in a previous inspection.

Prestige can provide records showing that the entire brake system was replaced in June, Kindlon said.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2018/10/10/us/new-york-limo-crash/index.html
 
If they haven't identified all the bodies yet and are asking for dental records and tattoo identification, the bodies are probably in very bad shape, not intact, etc.

This is confusing. The limo looks mostly in tact in the photos from after the accident. How could the bodies be so hard to identify? What am I missing?
 
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This is confusing. The limo looks mostly in tact in the photos from after the accident. How could the bodies be so hard to identify? What am I missing?
Deceleration forces,maybe?

The limo was doing some 50 miles an hour until it went into the ravine, where it suddenly stopped. The passengers, not being belted in, continued moving at 50 mph until they struck something or somebody that stopped them, also suddenly. Remember, acceleration is change in velocity divided by change in time, so the greater the change in velocity or the less time it takes the greater the acceleration is.

Crumple zones at the front and rear of an automobile are designed to increase the time it takes to come to a stop. I gather that the modification of the Expedition into a limo was not sanctioned by Ford so the crumple zones may well have been inadequately resistive for the increased weight of the vehicle, which would allow them to collapse faster and impose greater acceleration upon the occupants.

--Al
 
Deceleration forces,maybe?

The limo was doing some 50 miles an hour until it went into the ravine, where it suddenly stopped. The passengers, not being belted in, continued moving at 50 mph until they struck something or somebody that stopped them, also suddenly. Remember, acceleration is change in velocity divided by change in time, so the greater the change in velocity or the less time it takes the greater the acceleration is.

Crumple zones at the front and rear of an automobile are designed to increase the time it takes to come to a stop. I gather that the modification of the Expedition into a limo was not sanctioned by Ford so the crumple zones may well have been inadequately resistive for the increased weight of the vehicle, which would allow them to collapse faster and impose greater acceleration upon the occupants.

--Al

That was a sexy answer. I like big brains.
 
After seeing that video of the limo crash test and hearing they haven't ID'd all the bodies, I am amazed that one of them lived long enough to die at the hospital. Does anyone know which one it was?
 
...
The results of the autopsies, conducted by Dr. Michael Sikirica, are not particularly surprising; so-called "blunt force trauma" is the most common cause of fatalities in automobile crashes. However, the description of the injuries — as "severe" and "multiple" — speaks to the severity and powerful impact of the collision that caused the deaths.

....

The State Police said in its news release that investigators are still "awaiting the results of toxicology tests."

Those tests could answer whether the driver, 53-year-old Scott Lisinicchia, was at all impaired at the time of the crash.

....

https://www.democratandchronicle.co...-victims-cause-death-state-police/1698377002/
Also, "There was no sign of skid marks, officials said."
 
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — The former manager of a Mavis Discount Tire outlet told investigators last month that the Saratoga Springs auto shop had falsified invoices and failed to perform critical brake work on the stretch limousine that crashed in Schoharie last year, killing 20 people.

The alleged falsification of the records and the shop's purported failure to perform work on the 2001 Ford Excursion were part of a systemic practice at the auto service outlet as it tried to meet corporate sales quotas, according to court records.

Schoharie County District Attorney Susan J. Mallery disclosed the information in a letter this week to attorneys for Nauman Hussain, who operated the Wilton-based limousine company that owned the Excursion. Hussain was indicted in April on manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide charges — one count apiece for each of the 20 crash victims.
[....]
In a Sept. 17 interview with investigators, Virgil W. Park Sr., who no longer works at Mavis, told investigators that he had purchased a "Wearever brake master cylinder" from Advance Auto Parts on May 4, 2018, about a week before the auto shop worked on the limousine. (In her letter, Mallery misspelled Park's name as "Parks.")

Although a Mavis invoice dated a week later indicates the brake part had been installed on the stretch Excursion, Park said another employee, Chikezie Okoro, "told him that the part was not installed."

"Instead, this part was returned to Advance Auto Parts on May 12, 2018," Mallery wrote. "Mr. Parks (sic) stated that he learned this information from Mr. Okoro shortly before Mr. Parks was terminated by Mavis in February 2019."

The brake master cylinder is a device that transfers the force from a driver's foot on a brake pedal into hydraulic pressure to slow or stop a vehicle.

 
Also, "There was no sign of skid marks, officials said."
Now we know why.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — The former manager of a Mavis Discount Tire outlet told investigators last month that the Saratoga Springs auto shop had falsified invoices and failed to perform critical brake work on the stretch limousine that crashed in Schoharie last year, killing 20 people.
[....]
In a Sept. 17 interview with investigators, Virgil W. Park Sr., who no longer works at Mavis, told investigators that he had purchased a "Wearever brake master cylinder" from Advance Auto Parts on May 4, 2018, about a week before the auto shop worked on the limousine. (In her letter, Mallery misspelled Park's name as "Parks.")

Although a Mavis invoice dated a week later indicates the brake part had been installed on the stretch Excursion, Park said another employee, Chikezie Okoro, "told him that the part was not installed."
[...]
The brake master cylinder is a device that transfers the force from a driver's foot on a brake pedal into hydraulic pressure to slow or stop a vehicle.
[Emphasis added]

It's about what it sounds like, a cylinder with a fitted piston that slides deeper into the cylinder when one steps on the brake pedal Once the necessary slack in the system is taken up, pressure starts to build in the brake system. The piston has seals on it to prevent the escape of pressurized brake fluid to the non-pressure side of the piston. If those seals fail, there is no braking pressure. And no braking pressure means no brakes.

--Al
 
SCHOHARIE, N.Y. (AP) — The operator of a limousine company was spared prison time Thursday in a 2018 crash that killed 20 people when catastrophic brake failure sent a stretch limo full of birthday revelers hurtling down a hill in upstate New York.

Loved ones of the dead excoriated Nauman Hussain, 31, as he sat quietly at the defense table during a hearing that was held in a high school gymnasium to provide for social distancing among the many relatives, friends and media members attending.

Hussain, who operated Prestige Limousine, had originally been charged with 20 counts each of criminally negligent homicide and second-degree manslaughter in what was the deadliest U.S. transportation disaster in a decade.

But under an agreement for Hussain to plead guilty only to the homicide counts and spare families the uncertainties and emotional toll of a trial, he faces five years of probation and 1,000 hours of community service. His case had been delayed by the coronavirus pandemic.
[....]
Hussain was accused of putting the victims in a death trap.

“My son, my baby boy, was killed in a limo while trying to be safe,” said Beth Muldoon, the mother of Adam Jackson, 34, who was killed along with his wife, Abigail King Jackson.

The couple, who with the others had rented the limo to avoid drinking and driving, had two small children. Muldoon lamented the holidays and life milestones the parents will miss.

One spectator left the hearing, cursing and shouting, “He killed 20 people,” before apologizing to the judge on her way out.

Hussain sat quietly as parents talked about their smothering grief and anger. Defense attorney Joseph Tacopina said his client accepts responsibility for his actions and cried as the relatives spoke.

Hussain did not answer reporters’ questions after the court proceeding.

Under the deal, Hussain will be formally sentenced after an interim probation of two years. The judge noted that Hussain’s guilty plea could be used to buoy any lawsuits.

On Oct. 6, 2018, Axel Steenburg of Amsterdam, 30 miles west of Albany, rented the 2001 Ford Excursion limousine for the 30th birthday of his new wife, Amy. The party group, ranging in age from 24 to 34, included Axel’s brother, Amy’s three sisters and two of their husbands, and close friends.

En route to Brewery Ommegang, south of Cooperstown, the limo’s brakes failed on a downhill stretch of state Route 30 in Schoharie, west of Albany. The vehicle blew through a stop sign at a T-intersection at over 100 mph (160 kph) and crashed into a small ravine near a popular country store.

Seventeen family members and friends were killed, along with the driver and two bystanders outside the store.

Schoharie County District Attorney Susan Mallery’s office has said Hussain allowed passengers to ride in the limo despite having received “multiple notices of violations” from the state and having been told repairs were inadequate. State police said the vehicle should have been taken out of service because of brake problems identified in an inspection a month before the crash.

But complications were highlighted in the plea agreement.

In a separate report last fall, the National Transportation Safety Board concluded that while the crash was likely caused by Prestige Limousine’s “egregious disregard for safety” that resulted in brake failure, ineffective state oversight contributed.

Prosecutors and Hussain’s lawyers said the plea agreement assured a resolution in a case that would have faced an uncertain outcome if presented to a jury.

Lee Kindlon, an attorney for Hussain, has said his client tried to maintain the limousine and relied on what he was told by state officials and a repair shop that inspected it.

According to the plea agreement, Hussain had the 2001 vehicle serviced at a Mavis Discount Tire store multiple times in the two years before the crash, including twice for brake repairs. The same shop also inspected the limousine, rather than the state Department of Transportation as required, the document said.

A telephone message left with Mavis Discount Tires’ corporate headquarters in Millwood, New York, was not immediately returned.

Prestige repeatedly changed the listed number of seats and took other steps to skirt safety regulations, according to documents released by the NTSB.

The safety board said last fall that the state Department of Transportation knew of Prestige’s out-of-service violations and lack of operating authority and that the state Department of Motor Vehicles failed to properly register the limousine, allowing Prestige to circumvent safety regulations and inspection requirements.

In February 2020, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed limousine safety bills inspired by the upstate crash and one in 2015 on Long Island that killed four women.

One law requires safety belts, and another requires drivers of limos carrying nine or more passengers to have a passenger-endorsed commercial driver’s license.

 
... under an agreement for Hussain to plead guilty only to the homicide counts and spare families the uncertainties and emotional toll of a trial, he faces five years of probation and 1,000 hours of community service.
That the type of sentence that could make family members take justice into their own hands.
 
Actually, it sounds like the auto repair shop that only pretended to fix the brakes on the limo, charged the owner, but never installed the part is the worst bad guy in this story. Any consequences for them??
 
Actually, it sounds like the auto repair shop that only pretended to fix the brakes on the limo, charged the owner, but never installed the part is the worst bad guy in this story. Any consequences for them??
I found 19 listings for the shop at Ripoff Report and over 800 reports at BBB -- who has rated them F. The claims run the gamut, from unnecessary work cited to work paid for but not done. (Sounds familiar.)

--Al
 
SCHOHARIE, N.Y. (AP) — A judge rejected a plea agreement that would have meant no prison time for the operator of a limousine company involved in a crash that killed 20 people in upstate New York. Wednesday’s turnabout drew applause and tears from victims’ relatives and plunged limo company boss Nauman Hussain into legal uncertainty.

State Supreme Court Justice Peter Lynch, who was not presiding over the case when the deal was reached a year ago in Hussain’s case, called the agreement “fundamentally flawed.”
[....]
The judge’s rejection caught lawyers and relatives off-guard. Family members who, moments earlier, were testifying about their grief and anger over no one being accountable for the deadly crash clapped and dabbed their eyes after the judge’s announcement.
[....]
Defense attorney Chad Seigel said they were “shocked” and that the judge’s move was “unheard of.”

Hussain, who operated Prestige Limousine, had been charged with 20 counts each of criminally negligent homicide and second-degree manslaughter in what was the deadliest U.S. transportation disaster in a decade.

The agreement had called for Hussain to plead guilty only to the homicide counts, resulting five years of probation and 1,000 hours of community service. Lawyers for both sides said last year the plea agreement assured a resolution in a case that would have faced an uncertain outcome if presented to a jury.

Lynch noted that a state Department of Transportation out-of-service sticker had been placed on the limousine a month before the crash. State police recovered the sticker from Hussain’s personal car after his arrest. Prosecutors have argued that Hussain took the sticker off the limo’s windshield so that he could use it for more jobs.

To the judge, Hussain’s actions showed he knew the risk of putting the limousine on the road the day of the crash, and a guilty plea to only criminally negligent homicide does not reflect that. Second-degree manslaughter charges are filed when a defendant is accused of being aware of the risk of death and disregarding it. Lynch called the deal “completely disingenuous and unacceptable to this court.”

Lynch gave Hussain’s lawyers the choice of accepting a sentence of 1 1/3 to four years in prison or withdrawing his guilty plea. They chose the latter.

Seigel said afterward that the DOT sticker had “absolutely nothing to do with defective brakes.”

“Collectively, we made a decision that it would be in the best of all all involved — not only our client, but the members of the community — to put this matter behind them. A little monkey wrench was thrown in that,” Seigel said. “So the judge forced our hand and we’re ready for trial.”

District Attorney Susan Mallery left court without commenting.

Hussain, who sat with his head lowered for much of the proceeding, declined comment afterward.

While the National Transportation Safety Board concluded the crash was likely caused by Prestige Limousine’s “egregious disregard for safety” that resulted in brake failure, the board said ineffective state oversight contributed.

Attorneys for Hussain say he tried to maintain the limousine and relied on what he was told by state officials and a repair shop that inspected it.
[....]
Mallery’s office has said Hussain allowed passengers to ride in the limo despite having received “multiple notices of violations” from the state and having been told repairs were inadequate. State police said the vehicle should have been taken out of service because of brake problems identified in an inspection a month before the crash.

The next court date has been set for Sept. 14. Hussain, who had completed a year of interim probation, was allowed to leave the court, but the judge ordered he be subject to GPS monitoring.

Lynch revealed his decision only after several relatives spoke about their enduring pain and sense of loss. Sheila McGarvey told the court that her 30-year-old son Shane McGowan was just beginning his life with new wife, Erin McGowan, who was also riding in the limo.
[....]

 
I have read the entire NTSB report, including all of the docket materials (tons of info, and I’m linking the 103-page report below). What is so bad to me is that the limo was likely moving over 110 mph when it hit the SUV. And it took time to get to that speed, and the occupants absolutely knew that they were in a horrible situation as it picked up speed going down that long hill. At that speed, and with so many occupants, many of the injuries would have been from them striking one another, as bad as that is to say. Per the first responders’ statements, two female occupants actually survived the initial impact; one was deemed “non-viable” due to injuries but they thought the other had a shot, though she died shortly after. Just a terrifying, horrible end to so many people and with so many families impacted.

What is really interesting to me is the battle between the NTSB and the county DA. The DA refused to give them access to the vehicle which is pretty much unheard of, since NTSB does have jurisdiction (not sure that’s the best word). The docket includes correspondence between the two and is really interesting. I think the NTSB strategically chose when to release their report, in a way that caused some issues for the DA (and she deserved it). In fact, since they didn’t have access to the vehicle, they did an excellent recreation with a specialty firm. I’m not an engineering person but it was still fascinating. The link to the report should contain the link to the docket files.

The NTSB repot:


The correspondence between NTSB and Schoharie DA plus NY Supreme Court:

Post automatically merged:

This is the link to all docket items. There is some really interesting reading in here.

 
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