Bellevue football players avoid serious injury in bus crash

Pat Jones had a front-seat view aboard the charter bus that carried Bellevue High School's football team south on Interstate 5 for a playoff game Friday at the Tacoma Dome.

Then, in less time than it would take to fumble a handoff, he watched everything go wrong.

The driver of the charter bus, seated directly in front of Jones, suddenly veered the bus to the right to avoid a ladder in the roadway, drove across a lane of traffic and off the freeway. In a flash of calm, Jones, an assistant head coach, realized the impact was coming and remembered to relax, like parachutists do just before landing.

The bus slammed into a steep embankment, coming to a stop on its left side. Jones plunged through the window next to him and onto the grass beside a ditch several feet below. Head coach Butch Goncharoff fell through the window and landed on top of him.

"The firefighters on site said there's a few people that shouldn't have walked away from this, and I think I was one of them," Jones said. "Butch and I may not sit in the front seat of buses any more."

"A lot of beat-up kids"

Seven of the 38 people on board the bus were taken to hospitals, including six players, according to the State Patrol. The most serious injury among passengers was a minor concussion, according to the State Patrol.

The State Patrol said the injuries could have been far more severe had the players not been wearing football pants, including hip, thigh and knee pads.

A semitruck and two passenger vehicles were also involved in the accident that occurred just before 11 a.m. at 216th Street in Des Moines. The driver of one of the cars suffered minor neck and back injuries and was taken to a hospital as a precautionary measure, the State Patrol said.

What remains to be seen is whether the crash takes a toll on one of the state's most storied high-school football programs, which is seeking its sixth Class 3A state championship in the past eight years. The bus was carrying the 12-0 Wolverines' starting players.

"There are a lot of beat-up kids," Goncharoff said at the scene. One assistant coach said two players were being monitored for possible concussions and several players complained of back pain. He indicated the team could be down two to three starters for the rescheduled game, now set for Monday.

The semifinal game against Olympia's Capital High had been scheduled for a 1 p.m. kickoff Friday at the Tacoma Dome, but now will be played at 7 p.m. Monday at Harry Lang Stadium in Lakewood, Pierce County.

Criminal investigation

The State Patrol is trying to piece together how the accident happened and track down the driver of the pickup that lost the ladder. A 2005 state law passed after a Renton woman was disfigured by a board that fell from a trailer on Interstate 405 makes it a criminal act to fail to secure a load if it comes loose and hurts or kills someone.

"This is at this point a criminal investigation. We are looking for who lost that ladder. If it weren't for that ladder, we'd be playing football right now," said State Patrol Trooper Cliff Pratt.

The pickup was described as red, with racks on its bed and sides. Pratt said it was a beat-up construction-type truck.

Players and staff described a terrifying, split-second accident that sent people flying inside the bus like clothes in a washing machine.

Leonard Wolfork, 18, a senior defensive end, was one of two players taken to Valley Medical Center in Renton. Others were taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle and Highline Medical Center.

"We were lucky. Very lucky. We were probably going about 60 [mph] when it flipped. It happened really, really fast," he said.

Jake Hiller, a 17-year-old tackle, was sitting in the back row of the bus when the accident happened.

"We were slowing down and swerved to the right, off the road. Everybody was kind of screaming. The bus flipped onto its side and skidded," he said.

Hiller said he was dizzy and suffered some cuts and scrapes. He was taken to Highline Medical Center.

Jake's father, Steve Hiller, was at home preparing to leave for the Tacoma Dome when he got word of the accident.

"We're just really glad it wasn't more serious, and we'll be back to play another day," he said.

Tending to injuries

Bethany Desimone, 24, the team trainer, said of the bus driver, "It seemed like he was moving fine, maybe a couple miles faster than everyone but nothing out of the ordinary."

She described a relatively calm scene after the bus came to a halt. The coaches asked students to stay calm and speak up if they were hurt. People got out by climbing through an escape hatch on the roof, or the shattered front windshield.

Desimone said she helped tend to 13 to 15 players with minor cuts and abrasions.

She also helped a team fan, whom she described as a "superfan" who is about 60 and attends every game. She said he was bleeding from a head injury.

The bus was a charter from Chinook Charter Service. Calls to Chinook's offices were not returned Friday.

The Snohomish County company received a satisfactory safety rating in February 2008 from the U.S. Department of Transportation. The safety report said the company had no crashes in the preceding two-year period.

But the state Utilities and Transportation Commission fined Chinook Charter Service $4,000 in 2006 for 41 violations of federal safety regulations. Violations included failing to maintain push-out or escape windows in operating condition, operating a bus with a loose steering connection and failing to equip a bus with adequate brake lining.

The company paid the fine in November 2006, according to state records.

Back to football

The bus was one of two that carried members of the team for Friday's playoff. The other bus, carrying non-starters, was traveling ahead of the bus involved in the accident and arrived in Tacoma without incident.

Greg Cowan, a third-year assistant coach, was aboard the other bus. He said they were unaware of the crash until someone received a call from another coach.

"We're happy everybody is alive," Cowan said. "We could care less about a football game."

But by late Friday afternoon, Jones was once again turning his mind to football.

He and Goncharoff planned to watch the evening game at the Tacoma Dome between the two teams they could face in the championship, if they make it past Capital High on Monday.

Because of the bus crash, the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association announced that it is swapping the dates of next week's 3A and 4A championship football games at the Tacoma Dome. The 3A game, originally scheduled for Friday night at 7:30, will be played on Saturday at 4 p.m. The 4A game will move to the Friday night slot at 7:30.

Seattle Times staff reporters Sandy Ringer, Bob Young and Sanjay Bhatt contributed to this report.