Driving a large motor home can be tricky on the smoothest and straightest of roads, but traveling through Great Smoky Mountains National Park carries its own risks, as seven visitors discovered Monday when their RV slid 100 feet down a slope, injuring six of the occupants.
The accident occurred around noon Eastern standard time when Robert McCanna Reilly III, of Miami, tried to pull the RV off the Newfound Gap Road and onto the shoulder about 3 miles south of Newfound Gap.
However, the motorist was unable to stop the rig before the gravel shoulder narrowed too much for the RV, according to park officials. It fell onto its side and slid about 100 feet down a steep embankment, they added.
Mr. Reilly was uninjured, but the six passengers were. Two of the patients with severe injuries were transported by Mountain Area Medical Airlift to Memorial Mission Hospital in Asheville, North Carolina, the park reported. Four other individuals were transported by Cherokee Tribal Ambulance to Cherokee Hospital with less serious injuries.
Those taken to the Asheville hospital were a 13-year old boy who was in the front passenger seat; and Eduard Koefler, 57, who was in the back of the vehicle, park officials said. The 13-year-old was not wearing a seatbelt and was ejected from the vehicle. Mr. Koefler was removed from inside the vehicle by the occupants.
Park officials identified the other four patients as: Christoper Koefler (18); Ino Reilly, 30; Bridgette Koefler, 56, and Julia Koefler, 10. The Koeflers are all from Austria and were visiting their relatives, the Reillys.
None of the injuries were thought to be life-threatening.
When emergency personnel arrived on the scene all but two of the passengers were alongside the road. The road remained closed as of 4:30 p.m. to allow a crane service to remove the RV from the site.
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Comments
I'm glad that people didn't get life threatening injuries and they were cleared from the accident side. But removing that RV in the middle of the day and totally blocking the way to the Blue Ridge Parkway was very annoying. We were tourists who had just one day to visit Park with the Parkway but it didn't happen because the rangers decided to close the road for tourists in the middle of the day when the tourist traffic is the highest. It could be good if they were prepared for their actions but after 4h of our wait they still couldn't remove that RV. And many of us tourist had to just give up all the plans and go another way around... home.
Gee, I hope you never get into an accident, apparently you have no idea the decisions that have to be made by rescue teams. I am grateful that the family is safe and no workers were injured in the recovery process. I did go through just before the incident(it was the Smoky Mountain Parkway, Blue Ridge is different), also on a time limited sightseeing excursion, yet if the road closed I would have found an alternate route or simply sat and waited until we were allowed to pass. I have been stuck in worse, such as hours of unknown on interstates, in extreme sun, where we simply shut the cars off and have the opportunity to meet others and share our lives(and whatever goodies we have in the car) with.
It is these occassions we must embrace to the fullest as they help to broaden our horizons and explore things we put off.
Hi folks - I was at Oconaluftee Visitor Center in the Smokies when the accident happened.
Yes, it is inconvenient for other visitors but it's part of visiting a public area. You can't control everything.
We tried our best to keep the visitors busy and seeing other parts of the park.
I wrote up the day on my blog - no gory pictures, though. http://www.hikertohiker.com/thishikinglife/archive/2010/08/24/oconalufte...
Hello, we are on the way to the Park when the accident happened. It was Birthday Aug. 23 and Just a road trip through the Smoky when the accident happen. But we are glad that nobody got hurt really bad. We have fun though in the Oconaluftee Island Park Museum and the Gem Mining in Ruby gem. As we come back to the Parkway around 5:30 PM the Parkway still closed so we just turn around and head home.
Very nice day
My son and I travelled from Canada to visit the Smokey Mountains, and were camping in the park the day of the accident. Our plans were completely turned upside down by the accident, but there were many other things to do in the park that day. We ended up visiting Cade's Cove, a trip we likely would not have taken place if the highway had not been closed. I am not annoyed our travel plans were changed, I am grateful emergency workers were able to help this family, and any inconvenience to me is minimal compared to what that family and the emergency workers endured that day.
My spouse and I were headed back home to Georgia that day. The accident happened less than 5 minutes before we came to it. We saw the tracks were something went off but didn't know it was a RV. We were lucky in that we got through before the traffic was stopped. On our way back down the mountain, about 20 something rescue vehicles were headed toward the scene. They are very lucky...if it was a car, it would have been much worse. I do agree that they should have closed the park down a lot earlier than what they did. May God be with the family and hope for a good recovery.
We were slightly inconvenienced by the accident, but truly glad no one had died. We are curious as to how the 13 year old boy is doing? We've been praying for him.
I realize this post is dated but I just got back from the park today, was looking for some info about an accident and foud this thread. Road closures occur intermittently in those areas; N and S 441, through the park and also the Blue Ridge Parkway. The closures are declared for a myriad of reasons....loose gravel, fallen trees, ice and snow etc., and sadly also for accidents. You just have to make the best of it and be thankful you can enjoy the beauty surrounding you. I know it is disappointing to not recieve what you intended but things happen.
The family of this accident appreciates for life the tremendous work all did to keep my family safe. We were the recipient of North Carolina love from the local community, Cherokee firefighter’s Cherokee hospital and the Ashville hospital. I live in the Alps of Austria now and I can say that mountain road accidents can happen at any time and when driving in the mountains you must never think it can’t happen to you. Stay alert, and stay safe because I don’t wish what happened to me and my family happens to others.