School bus carrying golf team crashes in Jones County. Coach seriously hurt

A golf coach for Augusta Preparatory Day School was seriously hurt in a school bus crash Thursday afternoon in Jones County.

Coach Chuck Mason, 64, another adult and four teenagers, who make up the school's golf team, were on the bus when it crashed into a flatbed truck that had stopped on Ga. 49, Jones County sheriff's Investigator Kenny Allen said. The truck was pulling a trailer loaded with concrete bricks.

The coach, who was ejected from the bus, was in critical condition at the Medical Center, Navicent Health. Everyone on the bus was taken to the hospital for examination, Allen said.

Others hurt appeared to have sustained only superficial injuries, Allen said.

"Banged up, bruised up, cuts, that kind of thing," he said.

The crash happened about 12:30 p.m. between the Walthall Gas Station and Peacock's Auto Salvage.

The flatbed truck and trailer were stopped in the southbound lane of the highway toward Macon just over the crest of a hill. The southbound school bus crested the hill and clipped the back of the trailer, Allen said. The truck was unoccupied.

"The vehicle loaded with blocks stayed where it was at. (The impact) broke the receiver on the truck. The trailer went off in a ditch, and the bus spun around — headed back in the direction it was coming from," Allen said.

The school bus was smashed on the front passenger side, Allen said. The driver of the flatbed truck was helping deliver a mobile home and may have been trying to direct traffic at the time of the accident.

The crash closed that section of roadway for more than two hours.

The bus was taking the school's golf team to Perry, Augusta Prep posted on Facebook. The head of the school drove to the emergency room in Macon to be with students and their families.

The crash remains under investigation.

This story was originally published March 22, 2018 at 1:38 PM with the headline "School bus carrying golf team crashes in Jones County. Coach seriously hurt."