Transcript for Limo company owner under scrutiny after crash leaves 20 dead
horrific crash in update new York. A deadly limousine disaster. 20 people were killed. The stretch LEM see they were in flowing through a stop sign, hitting another car and hitting two pedestrians, killing them before landing in a ditch. Among the dead, the woman celebrating her birthday, Amy Steenburg there at the top, with her three sisters. All of them were killed, along with those family and friends. Tonight here, what we’ve just learned about the driver of the limo, and about the limo itself. It had just failed an inspection and should not have been on the road. ABC’s senior transportation correspondent David Kerley on the scene in New York tonight. Reporter: Tonight, investigators of this accident that took 20 lives are concentrating on the limousine, the driver and the small company called prestige. The owner of the company had no business putting a failed vehicle on the road. The owner of prestige has a lot of questions to answer. Reporter: The governor saying the driver was not properly licensed. The limo failed inspection just a month ago. And the company has been told to cease operations for now. The 2001 stretched Ford excursion blew through a stop sign at a T intersection, impacting with such force the engine block ended up in the driver’s compartment, with no signs of skid marks. Considering the impact and the speed limit, it seems obvious this vehicle was speeding. Well, I can’t argue with that, but I can’t agree with it, either, because we don’t have the actual evidence for that. But I can tell you, this was a high energy crash. Reporter: The NTSB chair pointing out that this is the deadliest transportation accident since the Colgan air crash in 2009. It was to be a Saturday afternoon 30th birthday celebration for the youngest of four sisters. Amy Steenburg, who had just been married. You have shown me what true love is. I dream of us growing old and traveling the world hand in hand. Reporter: And just three days earlier, Amy again professing her love for her husband on Facebook. “I love you more than words can say.” All four sisters, along with three of their husbands, killed. According to the family, the group of 17 rented transportation to visit a brewery and other stops safely. Friends coming along, including Amanda Halse. I’m empty, I — it’s an indescribable pain, like, I have no words for it. Never felt a pain like this, ever in my life. Reporter: Most extended limos like the one in this incident, are not made by car companies. They are regular vehicles which are stretched, like the one in a 2015 Long Island crash, which killed four women. In this rural area outside of Albany, a community struck by the horror, the 18 in the limo, two pedestrians all lost, and one family hit so hard. I had four nieces, they’re all dead. They were in there. And David Kerley joining us from the scene of the deadly crash. And David, so important to point out, as you just reported there, that these limos don’t come off the line this way. They are retro fitted after. And late today, you reported that officials did recover a key part of the vehicle that they call the black box, hoping that will provide crucial answers here? Reporter: They’re hoping. It’s the air bag control module. It could say what happened in the last couple of seconds, even miliseconds, maybe answering some of those questions. As for the driver, some of his blood will be sent to a special lab in Oklahoma for a toxicology report. David? Just an awful story. David Kerley, thank you.
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