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Bus driver Derek Bosserman was on his normal route dropping off a group of almost sixth-graders in Truckee, California. Somewhere along the way, something unexpected came hurling towards them.
Bosserman knew something was coming and he slammed on the brakes just as a twin-engine private jet crashed down right in front of the bus.
"I see the aircraft coming in. I can tell it's a jet, and it hits some trees and it catches fire and explodes probably 50 feet in front of me," Bosserman told ABC10.
After he hit the breaks and the plane hit the ground and burst into flames he immediately checked on the students on the bus.
"My first priority is my kids," said Bosserman. "I looked asking 'Are you guys okay?'"
Everyone on the bus ended up being okay.
"We were totally on the correct side; we were so lucky," he said.
A nearby surveillance camera captured the moment the plane crashed and Bosserman's bus drove by.
"In that video, where the fireball happened was in the center of the roadway, and that road turns after the bus goes behind the bush in the corner," he said. "The road turns down towards the fireball. I was heading right for it. It was unbelievable."
Bosserman also happens to be the 2021 Placer County Transportation Employee of the Year and luckily knew how to handle the situation.
"I'm so glad they missed us. I am so glad I could take my passengers home to their families."