Video Shows Deadly School Bus Crash At DIA
DENVER (CBS4)- New video shows the impact of a deadly school bus crash at Denver International Airport last month that killed the bus driver and left several others seriously injured. The cause of the crash will remain undetermined.
The video was recorded by a camera on Level 4 at DIA and shows the Adams District 5 school bus crashing into a concrete pillar after it made one pass around and then returned.
The coroner's report states that the driver, Kari Chopper, died of injuries suffered when the bus struck a concrete pillar. The coroner was not able to determine whether she had a medical issue that led to the crash.
The coroner previously had told Kari's husband that she had an enlarged heart and may have had a heart attack.
It remains uncertain what led to the deadly crash.
"And we can see dynamics but we can't make out people, we can't make out certain evidence, but we can find out, 'Let me look and see if there is something about the travel nature of the bus, that gives me a clue as to what happened,' and certainly that wasn't the case there," said Denver Police Traffic Investigations Div. Sgt. Mike Farr.
The Legacy High School Varsity and JV football teams were leaving DIA on buses after returning from a game in California on Sept. 11. Chopper somehow crashed into a concrete bridge in the passenger pick up area and was killed. Fifteen students were taken to the hospital. Three coaches were seriously injured.
The bus driver's husband, Josh Chopper, told CBS4 he believes his wife died trying to avert a collision with the overhang. Police have not reached that conclusion.
"Conceivable, it's hard for me to conclude that because, again, we had witnesses on board the bus that there was no effort to stop, emergency braking," said Farr.
