Bus Operator Carrying Farmingdale HS Band Had 'Unacceptable' Rating

NESCONSET, NY — The charter bus company that was transporting the Farmingdale High School marching band when it crashed Thursday, killing two, has an "unacceptable" rating from the New York State Department of Transportation, according to data obtained by Patch.

Regency Transportation of Nesconset failed five of its last 15 semi-annual state inspections, according to data from the department.

The bus overturned on Interstate 84 in Wawayanda, Orange County, around 1:10 p.m. Thursday as it was carrying students and teachers to Greeley, Pennsylvania, for an annual band camp. Gov. Kathy Hochul said a faulty front tire "likely" caused the crash, as the bus then tumbled down a 50-foot ravine.

The school's marching band and wind ensemble director, Gina Pellettiere, 43, of Massapequa, and retired teacher Beatrice Ferrari, 77, of Farmingdale, were killed in the crash, state police said. Five students were hospitalized in critical condition and more than 40 others were hurt. The bus was one of six in the convoy.

Regency Transportation and the driver involved in the crash are "properly licensed," state officials said, the Times-Herald Record reported.

No violations were listed as critical, and the company has had one crash in the past, ABC 7 reported. The company had zero unsafe driving violations in recent years, the outlet reports.

Federal investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board began examining the crash wreckage on Friday, NBC 4 NY reported.

The state department of transportation has a performance-based bus safety program. Bus charters are inspected and then divided into four groups: preferred, acceptable, unacceptable and unrated.

Regency Transportation has 14 drivers and eight buses, according to its page on the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

State officials are assigned to perform safety inspections of vehicles in New York every six months, according to the department.

Operators with an out-of-service rating of 25 percent or more are considered "unacceptable." The threshold is less than 10 percent for "preferred" and between 10 and 25 percent for "acceptable."

The "unacceptable" list was made effective on May 15. Regency Transportation was listed as having 15 total inspections over the past year, failing 33 percent of them, the data indicated.

Out-of-service buses receive a windshield sticker and are not supposed to be on the road until a state inspector removes the sticker, Times Union reported. It is not known if the bus carrying the Farmingdale marching band had a windshield sticker.

Regency Transportation is not taking messages, a person who answered the phone told Patch.

Regency buses failed just five of 56 inspections between April 1, 2018, and March 31, 2022, according to state data.

The Farmingdale School District is "deeply mourning" the losses of Pellettiere and Ferrari, said Superintendent Paul Defendini.

"It is difficult to express the sadness and grief that the Farmingdale School District and I feel over the tragic events that unfolded earlier and the horrific experience our students endured," Defendini told the community.