Speed was a factor in a crash that killed five people and injured dozens of others on the Pennsylvania Turnpike in 2020.
Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board met Tuesday to discuss their findings before finalizing a complete report in the coming weeks.
The crash on Jan. 5, 2020 involved a motorcoach with a driver and 59 passengers on board. It was traveling near Mt. Pleasant, Westmoreland County when the driver lost control navigating a bend and crashed. It caused a chain reaction crash involving two UPS trucks, a FedEx truck and a car.
The driver of the motorcoach, two passengers and two UPS workers were killed. The NTSB says the 57 surviving motorcoach passengers were taken to the hospital.
During Tuesday's NTSB meeting, investigators said the motorcoach was going 77-miles per hour approaching a bend. According to the NTSB, the speed limit in the area of the crash is 70-miles per hour, but an advisory sign ahead of the crash warns of a 55-miles per hour speed limit for an upcoming curve.
"Staff found that the motorcoach was traveling too fast on wet roadway while in the descending curve," said senior investigator Kenneth Bragg. "The driver's failure to reduce speed on the wet roadway contributed to his loss of control, which initiated the crash sequence."
Investigators found both UPS trucks were also speeding approaching the bend.