The FBI concluded its investigation and turned it over to the local police department as a traffic related investigation. The FBI did not find evidence of explosives or evidence of a related terror/terrorist nexus. A theory that is being considered is that the vehicle suffered a mechanical failure that caused it to take off at a high rate of speed before taking to the air. The above image is a screen capture from a video of a car, in Poland, “taking flight.”
From the New York Post:
Investigators believe that the $300,000 Bentley that was crashed at a Niagara Falls border checkpoint — exploding in a fireball that caused major panic and killed the wealthy New York couple inside — may have suffered mechanical failure, according to the local mayor.
The FBI confirmed within hours of Wednesday’s fiery crash at the Rainbow Bridge that it had wrapped its own investigation after finding “no explosive material, and no terrorism nexus.”
The case is now a “traffic investigation” by the Niagara Falls Police Department — who believe it was likely either the driver suffering a medical incident or the car malfunctioning, sources told The Buffalo News.
The husband and wife in the car were identified by police as Kurt Villani and his wife Monica, both 53, who were on their way to see KISS in concert in Toronto, a gig that was canceled when frontman Paul Stanley came down with the flu.
The mayor of Niagra Falls, Robert Restaino, also told the New York Times that investigators are eyeing a possible mechanical failure that caused it to accelerate to at least 100 mph before flying over a fence and crashing into a border crossing booth.
The New York Post has additional information here.
Below is a video that shows a car take to the air after meeting the edge of a roundabout in Poland.
“The FBI concluded its investigation”
Yep, lot more to the story………..
Spent as much time and effort as they did investigating the cocaine found in The White House this past summer.
On a somewhat related comment, are members of the Kiss Army eligible to be interred at Arlington National Cemetery?
At least without the FBI involved, the real crime solvers can get to work.
Old fuddy-duddy had a heart attack and pushed down the gas instead of the brake?
I saw more accidents with that as the cause, as opposed to the car slowly decelerating after the driver had a medical episode. Probably because their foot is on the gas most of the time.
Had a buddy age 46 had an aneurysm going through a maintanance yard, his truck accelerated full throttle and ran into a boulder circling the yard. The doctors said he was dead before he hit the rock.
Age 53? Really?
I second that!
Hey, I resemble that remark… but it could happen.
Now, if the car in the video above would’ve been an orange ’69 Dodge Charger with a ’01’ on the doors and a rebel flag on the roof, then that would’ve been somethin’.
If it hada been that car it would’ve made the jump grabbed another gear and gotten Daisy to the concert on time.
Or maybe a black and gold Trans-Am…
Or just a black Trans Am set to “Turbo Boost”
Was it a Pre- Op Trans Am?
600-800 real wheel HP go. VROOM!
The subject car was a white Bentley Continental GT. They can reach speeds of up to 195 miles per hour. Used ones that are five or six years old usually fetch around $100K. So, I doubt this incident had anything to do with terrorism. For once, the D-rat LEO orgs are right. The driver likely had a stroke or a cardiac event, causing WOT.
“causing WOT”
I thought Dave caused those.
It stands for “wide open throttle.” You are thinking of the other WOT, weekend open thread.
Yeah, can’t see the aloha snackbar crowd using that kinda car.. not really their style
I’m pretty sure there was a hell of a lot of terror inside that car.
Now they’re saying he was slamming on the brakes the whole time.
Must have had one of those WiFi connected Bentleys
for someone to know that.
Stayed tuned for more discoveries about what happened. I”ll bet the FBI has already recovered the
flight recorder.
since the car was airborne, wouldn’t it be pilot error?
We would ask Daniel Bernath, but he was unavailable for comment, over.
So why are they withholding their names???
Notifying next of kin first is all I can think of.
Are they muslim?
A Bentley? Mechanical failure? Unheard of.
Uh no. A friend of mine had a low mileage used 1996 Bentley sedan. His engine ate several valves and seized.
Years ago, the 92-year-old former Mayor of a 100,000 large city
had his last wild ride this way.
Whatever happened to him behind the wheel,
he mashed the gas pedal on a 25mph city street,
blowing stop signs and red lights,
reaching 90mph
when he rear ended a city bus.
https://www.albright.edu/reporter/spring2012/shirk.html
All of this could have been avoided if only they were riding in a 1980’s vintage Jaguar. Word on the street is that they can go from 0 to 60 in 30 seconds, providing that they are placed on a flatbed trailer.
Reminds me of that old joke…
When I die, I want it to be peacefully in my sleep; the way my grampa did. Not screaming in terror the way the passengers in grampa’s car did.