Early NTSB report details deadly Highway 99 head-on bus collision that killed 6
Federal transportation investigators released their early findings in a deadly head-on collision in January that killed six people including four passengers riding aboard a rural transit bus near Corning in Tehama County.
The Tehama Rural Area eXpress bus carried five passengers and its driver north on Highway 99W near Corning just after 10 a.m., Jan. 14, as a 2021 Toyota pickup headed south, the National Transportation Safety Board said.
As the bus and Toyota Tacoma approached each other, the 41-year-old driver of the Toyota, crossed the center line into the path of the northbound bus. The collision ignited a fire that engulfed the bus, killing its 50-year-old driver and five of the six passengers aboard. The surviving passenger was seriously injured and was flown by air ambulance to the hospital.
The driver of the Toyota also died in the collision, said NTSB officials.
Tehama County Sheriff’s Office identified the six as: Oscar Casas Carrillo, 41, of Corning; 62-year-old Trena Kay Kain, also known as Trena Darrow, of Corning; Kelly Margaret Langstaff, 50, of Red Bluff; Casandra Ann Moreno, 42, of Red Bluff; John Douglas Perry, 72, of Chico; and Christina Sue Whittemore, 41, of Corning.
The stretch of Highway 99 is two lanes, each about 12 feet wide, separated by a broken yellow center line and reflective buttons. The posted speed limit at the site of the crash was 55 miles per hour, said NTSB officials.
The NTSB continues to investigate the fatal collision joined by Federal Transit Administration, California Highway Patrol and Tehama County Public Works
This story was originally published February 5, 2026 at 1:44 PM.
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