Estate of Farmingdale High band director Gina Pellettiere files lawsuit over bus crash

The estate of a popular Farmingdale High School music teacher who died a year ago when a bus carrying students crashed on its way to a marching band camp in Pennsylvania has filed suit, alleging that the bus company failed to properly inspect the bus's equipment.

The executors of Gina Pellettiere's estate, listed in court documents as Diane and Joseph Pellettiere, filed the lawsuit last week in Nassau County Superior Court. Around the same time, Danielle Mammolito filed a similar lawsuit on behalf of her son, who was injured in the accident. He was identified in court documents by his initials.

The families sued Nesconset-based Regency Transportation, driver Lisa Schaffer and Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations for alleged negligence and sought unspecified damages. Mammolito's lawsuit also names the Farmingdale School District as a defendant.

Garden City-based attorney Deanne Caputo, who represents both plaintiffs and Mammolito, was not immediately available for comment Sunday evening. The Pellettieres referred the case to their attorney for comment.

The parties are the latest to file suit since the September 2023 accident in which a bus full of students and teachers overturned and plunged down a 50-foot ravine. More than a dozen lawsuits have been filed by parents whose children were riding on the bus.

Regency, Bridgestone and the Farmingdale School District did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Schaffer declined to comment.

Band director Gina Pellettiere, 43, and former teacher Beatrice Ferrari, 77, who was a chaperone on the trip, were killed in the Sept. 21 crash on Interstate 84 near northern Wawayanda. Dozens of students were injured.

The recent lawsuits allege that Regency and its driver failed to “properly and thoroughly” inspect the bus's equipment, including the brakes and tires, rendering the bus unsafe to operate. The lawsuits also allege that Schaffer drove the bus at excessive speeds before the accident and did not have “reasonable control” of the bus, to name a few examples.

The tire brand Bridgestone was used on the bus that day.

Mammolito's lawsuit alleges that the Farmingdale School District failed to properly transport students because Regency “had previously been designated as an unacceptable operator by the New York State Department of Transportation.”

The 2014 Prevost bus, operated by Regency, was scheduled to transport 40 high school students and four adults from Farmingdale to band camp in Greeley, Pennsylvania.

The National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the crash, said in a preliminary report that the bus changed lanes and turned left before exiting the westbound lane. The bus struck a roadside barrier and rolled down a sunken dirt median.

According to the authorities' description, several adults were thrown from the bus as a result of the accident. Schaffer was not named, but the bus driver was “seriously injured.” The NTSB was unable to identify the cause of the accident or name anyone responsible.

Peter C. Knudson, a spokesman for the NTSB, told Newsday last week that the investigation into the crash was still ongoing.

“Most NTSB highway investigations are completed within 12 to 24 months of the accident date,” Knudson said.