JPL Commuter Van Crash Kills 3, Injuries 7

[SafetyPro2]

KABC-TV Los Angeles - Deadly JPL Commuter Van Crash

ANGELES NATIONAL FOREST — A Jet Propulsion Laboratory carpool van tumbled some 200 feet down an embankment in the Angeles National Forest today, killing three people, authorities said.

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JPL is the NASA facility in Pasadena that runs NASA's unmanned exploration programs, such as the Mars Rover projects. My dad worked there for 15 years, and a couple of members of our department are on their fire brigade.

The road where this took place is a fairly winding mountain road, but a well travelled one. I've driven it many times myself. One of our new Trainees is a USFS firefighter currently assigned in that area, so hopefully he'll have some more information on the response (I suspect he was there).

 

[MMiz]

Interesting and sad story.

I was surprised to hear there were no skid marks, but I really wont speculate until more information is available.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[SafetyPro2]

Well, all the news reports are saying the investigation is focusing on whether the driver fell asleep. The crash took place early morning (around 6 AM), and given the location, the driver had probably been at the wheel at least an hour.

This crash seems to be getting national coverage, probably because it was NASA employees. Saw it on several of the national morning news shows today.