New surveillance video shows fatal tour bus accident at Grand Canyon

GRAND CANYON, AZ – New surveillance video shows the moment a tour bus crashed at the Grand Canyon, killing one young woman and seriously injuring eight others.

The fatal crash occurred on August 1, 2023.

The videos were collected as evidence by the Arizona Department of Public Safety and, for the first time, show from different angles what exactly led to the crash.

“I think it was hands down the worst day of our lives,” said Angela Tirschman, who survived the crash.

All 56 passengers, including the Tirschman family vacationing from Maryland, began their day on the Las Vegas Strip. They boarded the tour bus and headed to the Grand Canyon Skywalk, a popular tourist destination on the western rim of the canyon.

Surveillance videos show the tour bus had almost reached the Grand Canyon parking lot when the accident occurred in less than 10 minutes seconds.

“When we got off the bus, the tour guide told us what we were going to do and suddenly it happened,” Angela explained.

The videos show the tour bus veering off the road and into a ditch before losing control and overturning. The bus then slid across the sidewalk and crashed into several parked cars.

“Everyone was screaming,” said Kyan Tirschman, who suffered serious injuries.

For the first time, the surveillance videos also show the consequences and how chaos reigned at the crime scene. People ran to help and several began removing passengers from the bus.

“In those moments, walking around that bus accident…it was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced,” Angela said.

Surveillance video shows the Tirschman family

Three minutes into the video, you can see the Tirschman family carrying their injured 19-year-old son Kyan away from the scene of the accident.

“I just remember him looking at me and saying, ‘Oh my God, my leg,’ and I looked at it and it was bad,” Angela said, holding back tears.

The photos of Kyan’s injuries are too graphic to print, but his skin was essentially ripped off his leg.

“They called it a traffic accident,” Angela said.

As the camera zooms out of the surveillance video, Kyan’s family can be seen using their shirts as a tourniquet.

“My husband and I think even my daughter was taking their shirts off and just trying to stop the bleeding,” Angela said.

Kyan was one of eight seriously injured passengers who were flown to nearby hospitals.

“The skin grafts are still healing and the nerve graft is still waiting to regenerate,” Kyan said.

Tragically, 20-year-old Landri Burgart died in the accident.

“Some days are terrible. Some days we can’t get up from our chair. But we keep going,” said Landri’s grandmother, Dorann Burgart, who was also a passenger on the bus.

Records show the tour bus company has committed numerous safety violations

ABC15 spent months investigating motorcoach company American Transportation Systems.

As we previously reported, federal safety records show that the Long Beach, California-based motorcoach company had enough safety violations to exceed federal safety thresholds, potentially exposing the company to priority intervention measures and roadside inspections.

Prior to the most recent accident, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration records show American Transportation drivers were involved in two other personal injury accidents in California in January 2022 and January 2023.

Investigators say safety regulations were ignored

ABC15 struggled for nearly five months to obtain the final crash report, a public record, from the Arizona Department of Public Safety.

The driver of the tour bus admitted to nodding off before the accident, and investigators determined that the bus was out of service before the accident due to a tire “that was not up to code,” according to the accident report.

“There has to be accountability,” Angela said.

The DPS report also noted that the tour bus driver “should not have been driving due to overtime.”

Investigators said the tread on the right axle tire was so bad that steel was visible. The report also states that the driver knew about the tire problem and did not report it.

“Faulty equipment means the difference between life and death,” Angela said.

There is no confirmation that the tire contributed to the fatal accident, but investigators concluded that the tour bus and driver should not have been on the road and that both the bus company, American Transportation Systems, and the bus driver by all indications safety regulations are ignored.

Families file lawsuits

The Burgart and Tirschman families have both filed lawsuits against American Transportation Systems and the bus driver, alleging negligence.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said it did not impose civil penalties against the motorist, but the driver was cited for driving while drowsy.

The 68-year-old bus driver was arrested immediately after the fatal accident on suspicion of manslaughter, a second-degree felony, and booked into a Mohave County detention center. The driver was later released after the district attorney decided not to file charges.

“It could have been prevented, but it wasn’t,” Kyan said.

American Transportation Systems again declined ABC15’s request for an on-camera interview and had no comment on the final crash report.

A lawyer representing the company said the matter is in litigation and “We respect the court’s process, including its recent stay order, to allow any additional plaintiffs time to come forward.” We will continue to do so as this process progresses “Continue to show recognition and respect to all those injured and to their affected family and friends.”

Do you have a tip for the ABC15 investigators? Email Investigator Jennifer Kovaleski at [email protected].