Company in Fatal Queens Bus Crash Has Been Cited for Safety

The tour bus company involved in a crash with a city bus that killed three in New York City has been cited for several safety violations and was involved last year in another deadly collision, according to federal regulators.

The Associated Press reported that signage on the tour bus showed it was from the Dahlia Group Inc. based in Flushing. A person who answered the phone at Dahlia’s office hung up.

A charter bus operated by Dahlia Group was involved in a single-vehicle crash in Connecticut last year that killed one and injured 36, according to records posted online by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

Records show the company has been inspected 35 times since 2015, with 11 violations found including seven for unsafe driving. In two unsafe driving violations, the company was cited for driving 15 miles per hour or more greater than the speed limit.

FMCSA spokesman Duane DeBruyne said the agency will assist the investigation by local authorities. He also said the agency will be conducting a review of the charter company’s compliance with federal regulations.

The National Transportation Safety Board is sending a team to investigate the accident, the agency said in a tweet.

The fatalities in the Queens crash, which occurred shortly after 6 a.m. Monday, include the driver of the tour bus, a pedestrian and a passenger on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority bus, city officials said in a press conference. Another 16 were injured, some critically, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said.

“We’ve had a really tragic morning here in Flushing,” de Blasio said “Hard to compare to anything I’ve ever seen to the sheer destruction from the impact of this collision.”

Security camera footage posted by WABC captured the tour bus smashing into a city bus making a right turn. As the city bus spun out of control, the charter bus plowed onto a sidewalk and into the side of a restaurant.

(With assistance from Alan Levin and Henry Goldman.)