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NASA van rolls off California mountain

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Wednesday, December 8, 2004

LOS ANGELES — A commuter van (Van Pool No. 36) from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) plunged 200 feet into a ravine in the Angeles National Forest this morning. The van was carrying ten people: six JPL employees, two NASA employees, and two private contractors. They are identified as:

  • Javier Bautista: Regular Substitute Driver
  • Cheryl Lynn Allworth: Executive Secretary in JPL's Space Experiments Systems Section
  • Dorothy M. Forks: JPL Human Resources
  • Peter Robles
  • Helga Maria Wurm
  • Jane F. Galloway: JPL Business Manager
  • Kerri Lynn Agey: Contractor for JPL Security Services
  • Christopher Butts
  • Jim Kitahara
  • David Myers

Three of the passengers -- Forks, Galloway, and Agey -- lost their lives; the remaining seven sustained various levels of injury, including one passenger suffering critical injury, according to authorities. All victims were airlifted to local area hospitals.

According to witnesses who reported the crash, the van simply drove off the side of Angeles Forest Highway. Despite the presence of fog during the accident, the California Highway Patrol believes that this was not a factor. The CHP has said that the investigation into the crash may take two to three days before the cause is known.

JPL spokesperson D.C. Agle confirmed that the van was from the facility. Initially, JPL refrained from commenting, but JPL security was spotted at the site shortly after the incident occurred.

The Angeles Forest Highway is a two-lane mountain road considered a commuter route for many residents of the Antelope Valley including Palmdale and Lancaster residents. It is an alternative to get to Interstate 210, rather than taking the heavily traveled Antelope Valley Freeway (California State Route 14).

Sources

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  1. "Three Dead in JPL Commuter Van Crash" — Associated Press, December 8, 2004
  2. KABC-TV Los Angeles. "Deadly Van Crash" — ABC7 Eyewitness News, December 8, 2004
  3. Jason Felch. "'I Saw Us Going Over the Edge'" — Los Angeles Times, December 10, 2004 (subscription only)
  4. Sean O'Keefe. "Administrator O'Keefe's Corner: Tragic Accident Involving JPL Employees" — NASA, December 9, 2004


 

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Articles presented on Wikinews reflect the specific time at which they were written and published, and do not attempt to encompass events or knowledge which occur or become known after their publication.

Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators.

Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.

Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.
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