Driver error blamed in Indiana Tech tour bus crash

Driver error, not mechanical problems, were behind the March 12 charter bus crash on I-65 in Clark County near Henryville, Ind., that sent 20 passengers and the driver to the hospital, police officials said Wednesday.

Indiana State Police investigators said in a release that Rex Altenburg, 76, of Fort Wayne, Ind., began to drive the bus off the left side of the road and then he over-corrected, sending the bus sliding across the interstate's southbound lanes before it spun clockwise and overturned in a rocky ditch line some 36 feet off the road.

It's not clear why Altenburg drifted, said ISP spokesman Cpl. Carey Huls, though collected evidence doesn't suggest medical or physical conditions contributed to his actions, and a mechanical check of the bus revealed no issues.

Onboard cameras stopped recording about 2 miles before the crash scene and the bus's "black box" has been unreadable, though camera recordings from earlier in the trip indicated the driver obeyed the posted speed limit, according to the release.

The three-week investigation also included interviews of bus passengers, the driver and witnesses.

Sixteen of the passengers were on the Indiana Institute of Technology men's and women's bowling team heading to a competition in Tennessee. Most were released from University of Louisville, Clark Memorial and Scott Memorial hospitals that day.

Reporter Matthew Glowicki can be reached at (502) 582-4989. Follow him on Twitter at @MattGlo.