The National Transportation Safety Board has ruled that Prestige Limousine's "disregard for safety" was the probable cause of the deadly 2018 limo crash in Schoharie.

The board met Tuesday morning to review and vote on their findings, probable cause, and recommendations for their final report. The preliminary NTSB report focused largely on the defects of the brakes, and it's been said that the limo should have never been out on the road in the first place.

The NTSB says the limo’s brakes were completely corroded. This is not a surprise coming out of this report, as the brake lines have been a suspected problem since that limo first crashed back in 2018.

It was also a major point of their preliminary findings; however, the federal authorities say the company that originally stretched the limo in 2001 was not licensed to do so, and never upgraded the brakes to handle the extra thousands of pounds from the alterations.

They estimated that the limo hit speeds of anywhere from 101 to 118 miles per hour that day, going down the hill near the Apple Barrel before it crashed.

They say if the limo had properly maintained brakes, it could have safely come to a stop.

Last month, the agency made public hundreds of documents it had been reviewing. Those included interviews with the family and friends of the victims along with witnesses to the crash.

The documents show one of the victims of the crash that killed 20 – 17 passengers, the driver, and two pedestrians – was texting a friend from inside the limo that day, telling her it was extremely loud and that “the limo sounds like it’s going to explode.”

Documents also show that two witnesses told state police that the vehicle pulled to the side of the road twice shortly before crashing.

The NTSB has also said that Prestige did not properly register its vehicles.

Prestige registered the limo under the DMV to avoid more rigorous inspections from the state DOT. And both groups knew that Prestige did not have the authority to operate, and had at least seven chances to stop them from operating, even having the authority to pull their limos off the road. But instead, the board said the state gave the business a “slap on the wrist,” saying both the state, and especially Prestige Limousine, failed the 20 victims.

“Did the driver know he was operating without a passenger endorsement? Yes, he did,” said NTSB Board Member Jennifer Homendy. “Did the company know? Yes, it did. So I find, I mean, their actions were egregious, with no regard with safety whatsoever for the safety of their customers, the safety of their employees, and I find they were deceptive.”

The DMV and DOT say they did everything in their power to get Prestige to stop operating, but they continually broke the law.

Prestige Limousine operator Nauman Hussain is charged with criminally negligent homicide and manslaughter in connection to the crash. What comes out of the board meeting could impact that criminal case.

Civil lawsuits have been filed by the families of victims against Mavis Discount Tire, which signed off on work on the vehicle, specifically on the brake line. Some of the lawsuits challenge the state and the specific intersection where the crash took place as being dangerous. It may have an impact in those cases as well.

The NTSB says its investigation, coming nearly two years since the crash, took so long due to the lack of cooperation from both the New York State Police and the Schoharie County District Attorney’s office; DA Susan Mallery sent a statement, saying that NTSB and her office have different responsibilities.

We have heard from victims’ families and their attorneys that there is the possibility of a plea deal for Hussain. His attorney, Lee Kindlon, says the NTSB findings don’t change his team’s defense moving forward, and says it calls into question why other parties like Mavis have not been charged criminally as well.