16 Dropped Thermos probable cause of bus crash
QUEENS WEEKLY, MARCH 3, 2019
Driver’s container was lodged under brakes and likely led to fatal incident in Flushing: Feds
BY MARK HALLUM
A year and five months
after a Dahlia Group motorcoach
blew through a
red light, slammed into a
city bus and killed three
commuters in Flushing,
the National Transportation
Safety Board (NTSB)
announced last week that a
Thermos lodged under the
brakes was the likely cause
of the wreck.
The report released by
the federal agency on Feb.
21 determined that the destruction
may not have been
a reflection the operator’s
spotty driving record or the
company’s history of violations
and included a photo
with the thermos stuck
under the pedals of bus.
“Investigators found no
evidence that the motorcoach
driver’s experience,
training, route familiarity
or pre-crash activities were
factors in the collision. The
GPS recording indicates
the motorcoach driver was
conscious and aware of the
hazardous conditions preceding
the crash but was unable
to control the vehicle’s
speed,” the report said. “At
the scene of the crash, investigators
found a metal Thermos
bottle near the control
pedals. The Thermos could
potentially explain the
metal rattling heard on the
audio recording.”
Although the evidence
may seem pretty convincing,
the agency is cautious
to draw any conclusions
after listening to the recording
in which the driver,
Raymond Mong, was said to
utter “a single-word remark
as the motorcoach increases
its speed.”
Investigators at the time
had evaluated through
video surveillance that the
motorcoach had increased
its speed and ran a red light
at Main Street as it was moving
eastbound on Northern
Boulevard at 6 a.m. on
Sept. 18, 2017.
The Dahlia bus collided
with a Q20 bus making a
right turn onto Northern
Boulevard between 54 and 62
miles per hour, NTSB said at
the time. The Q20 bus, with
16 passengers aboard, spun
and the motorcoach went
through the front of the
Kennedy’s Fried Chicken
on the southeast corner, injuring
two pedestrians and
killing one.
Three people, including
Mong, died in the wreck.
Dahlia, which is still
in operation, became the
object of public scrutiny
as it was revealed that the
company had about 18 violations,
including seven for
unsafe driving.
A look into Mong’s driving
history also painted a
grim description of Dalhia’s
operations in which it was
found that in 2015, he had
been fired from the MTA as
a bus driver following a Connecticut
accident for which
he was found guilty of DWI.
The state Department of
Motor Vehicles said at the
time that it was not aware
Mong was still driving a bus
and Dahlia had not reported
to the agency they had hired
him, as required by law.
For now, NTSB is filing
the Thermos scenario as
a “probable cause” of “the
driver’s unintended acceleration
of the motorcoach and
inability to brake for reasons
that could not be conclusively
determined from
the information available.”
Mong was a resident
of College Point, and the
report said his wife remembered
him leaving
the for work that day with
the Thermos.
Emergency workers pull apart the wreckage of the two buses after a 2017 collision that left
three people dead in downtown Flushing. Photo by Mark Hallum
Vallone proposes renaming street after late activist
BY JENNA BAGCAL
Less than a month after
Joe Femenia’s death, a
local councilman has proposed
a College Point street
naming in honor of the
civic leader.
City Councilman Paul
Vallone announced plans to
co-name of the intersection
of 23rd Avenue and 130th
Street after the College
Point Civic and Taxpayers
Association (CPCTA) president,
who died suddenly of
a heart attack in January.
“The tragic and unexpected
passing of Joseph
Femenia was a great loss
for all of College Point,”
said Vallone. “The victories
and ongoing battles to
preserve and protect College
Point will always be
part of Joe’s great legacy.
He will now be forever
remembered for generations
as they look to the
street sign recognizing
his great legacy. I will forever
cherish Joe’s friendship,
vision and the leadership
he displayed as we
worked together.”
Vallone plans to introduce
the bill to co-name the
intersection after Femenia,
which will be passed later
this year. A co-naming ceremony
will also likely be
set for late this summer.
“Naming a street for Joe
is a tribute to his hard work
and dedication to make
College Point a better place
to live and work. He spent
countless hours for over a
decade making the College
Point Civic Association a
strong community based
organization that became
the voice of the community,”
said Tom Palma, Chair
of the College Point Board
of Trade. “The street sign
will become a lasting symbol
and remembrance that
we all need to dedicate time
to get involved in order to
improve the community
that we live in.”
The community received
the news of Femenia’s
untimely passing at
the monthly CPCTA meeting
on Jan. 30. The 62-yearold
civic leader and activist
had been the organization’s
president since 2008. He
also served as Community
Board 7 member and the
board’s Transportation
Committee chairperson for
10 years.
Joe Femenia (r.) with City Councilman Paul Vallone. Courtesy of Vallone’s office