Associated Press/Julie Jacobson - An Arizona Highway Patrol officer examines the exterior of a tour bus that careened off the highway and crashed off northbound highway 93, Friday, Oct. 19, 2012, near Willow
That was the agenda for the 50 or so passengers aboard a charter Silver State Trailways bus on Friday. But as the bus was returning from the Grand Canyon that evening, investigators said something went terribly wrong.
As the bus traveled northbound on Highway 93 and approached the Nevada state line, the driver suffered a medical episode and lost control of the bus, authorities said.
"We believe the driver experienced some sort of the medical condition and he just went off the road," the Arizona Highway Patrol said in a statement. No other vehicles were involved in the crash, which occurred on the main highway leading to the Hoover Dam.
The vehicle hit a ravine, tore up a small hill, then bounced and lurched over rough terrain for more than 700 feet before stopping, investigators said. Its front end was damaged, but the bus remained upright.
Silver State Trailways said their driver, whose name has not been released, may have suffered a heart attack.
The driver died and 48 passengers, mostly from Asia and Europe, were injured, authorities said. The six most seriously hurt were flown by helicopter to Las Vegas, where University Medical Center spokeswoman Danita Cohen said they were being treated for nonlife-threatening injuries, such as broken bones and lacerations. She described them as being mostly over 50 years old.
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