Case Studies
1) Overheated wheel bearing ignition of bus tire

2) Engine oil autoignition on exhaust manifold in crash

Overheated bus rear wheel bearing and hub that ignited a tire.

1) During Hurricane Rita in May of 2005, a bus evacuating assisted living facility residents caught fire 15 hours after travel began. Twenty three of the forty-four passengers, many with limited mobility, were fatally injured. The United States National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigated the incident.  NTSB investigators found that lack of lubrication in a rear axle wheel bearing led to an overheated hub and ignition of the tire. For a pdf version of the NTSB report, click here. For a pdf version of NTSB presentation slides with photos of this and other bus fires, click here.

2) To continue and review the crash fire case study of engine oil autoignition on an Escort exhaust manifold, click "next."