NTSB says 13-year-old drove pickup in deadly Texas crash

HOBBS, N.M. (AP) — The investigation into this week's fiery head-on crash in West Texas now focuses on the revelation that a 13year-old was driving the pickup truck that struck a van, killing nine people, including six members of a college golf team and their coach.

The young teen, who is still unidentified, and a man traveling in the truck also died.

National Transportation Safety Board Vice Chairman Bruce Landsberg on Thursday revealed the truck was driven by the child. He said the truck's left front tire, which was a spare tire, blew out before impact.

The pickup truck crossed into the opposite lane on the darkened, two-lane highway before colliding head-on with the van. Both vehicles burst into flames.

Although it was unclear how fast the two vehicles were traveling, "this was clearly a high-speed collision," Landsberg said.

Landsberg said investigators hoped to retrieve enough information from the vehicles' recorders, if they survived, to understand what happened. He said many in the van were not wearing seatbelts and at least one was ejected from the vehicle.

It's not unusual for young teens to drive in that region and other more rural parts of the United States. One must be 14 in Texas to start taking classroom courses for a learner's license and 15 to receive that provisional license to drive with an instructor or licensed adult in the vehicle.

Department of Public Safety Sgt. Victor Taylor said a 13-year-old driving would be breaking the law.

The University of the Southwest students, including one from Portugal and one from Mexico, and the coach were returning from a golf tournament in Midland, Texas, when the vehicles collided Tuesday night. Two Canadian students were hospitalized in critical condition.

The NTSB sent an investigative team to the crash site in Texas' Andrews County, about 30 miles east of the New Mexico state line.*