The semi went through a guardrail, flipped into water off Graham Station Road and left the driver pinned upside down until another trucker spotted the wreck.
MASON COUNTY, WV. — A passing truck driver found a semi operator trapped upside down in water after a rollover crash Wednesday morning on Graham Station Road, helping start a rescue that ended with the injured driver flown to a Charleston hospital, authorities said.
The crash drew attention because the driver survived for an unknown period inside the overturned cab before another trucker noticed skid marks, a broken guardrail and the vehicle’s wheels sticking up below the road. West Virginia State Police said the wreck happened near the 1200 block of Graham Station Road in the Letart area and remained under investigation after the driver, later identified as Dennis Busman, 50, of Troy, was charged with failure to maintain control.
Troopers said the crash happened at about 9 a.m. Wednesday as Busman was heading north on State Route 62 in a semi truck and trailer. Investigators said he entered a right-hand curve, could not complete the turn and went through the left-side guardrail, down an embankment and into the backwaters near Brinker Run and the Ohio River. The truck rolled onto its top in the water. Scott Cadle, another truck driver traveling the same road, said he stopped after seeing fresh skid marks and damage at the curve. He called down the hillside to check whether anyone was below and heard a voice answer. “He was upside down. His head was in the water. He had to kind of move his head to hold it up to breathe,” Cadle said as he described the moment he reached the scene.
Cadle said he called 911 right away and then tried to help free the driver before firefighters arrived. He said the man’s hands were pinned near the steering wheel, which had been crushed against the windshield, and one of the driver’s legs was caught, leaving him unable to climb out on his own. Cadle said he and others broke out a window, but they had little to work with and could not force open the door. State police said the driver was conscious and speaking when rescuers finally removed him from the cab. First responders flew him to CAMC General Hospital in Charleston, where officials said he was treated for broken ribs. Troopers said they do not know how long he had been trapped before Cadle came upon the wreck, but they described the time inside the waterlogged truck as “quite a while.”
The crash shut down Graham Station Road for hours while emergency crews worked along the embankment and in the water below. Officials said the semi was hauling gypsum, adding to the difficulty of recovering the wreckage from the muddy, partly flooded area. Before crews could pull the truck back up the hillside, they had to drain remaining diesel fuel and deal with sections of guardrail that had been torn away in the crash. Authorities said diesel leaked from the tractor-trailer into Brinker Run, but responders were able to contain it. The road later reopened after the truck was removed and the immediate hazard was cleared. No other injuries were reported, and authorities have not said whether weather, road conditions or mechanical problems played a role in the wreck. State police said the investigation remains open while inspectors continue examining the truck and trailer.
The case moved quickly from rescue to enforcement. In a follow-up release Thursday, state police identified the driver as Busman and said he had been charged with failure to maintain control. That charge is commonly used in West Virginia crash cases when investigators conclude a driver did not keep a vehicle safely on the roadway, though troopers did not announce any additional charges. Officials also said the West Virginia Department of Transportation was still inspecting the tractor-trailer after the wreck. No court date was immediately included in the public reports, and authorities did not release further details about Busman’s medical condition beyond his reported injuries. The lack of a longer medical update left open several questions, including when he might be discharged and whether investigators expect any more findings from inspection records, vehicle condition reports or reconstruction work at the crash site.
For Cadle, the scene was less about charges than the seconds that followed his decision to stop. He said the broken guardrail and tire marks made clear that something had gone wrong at the bend, but he did not know at first that a person was still alive below the roadway. Once he heard the trapped driver answer, he said the urgency changed at once. “I thought, oh man, I got to get him out of here,” Cadle said. The account underscored how hidden the wreck was from passing traffic despite happening just off a public road in daylight. From above, the most visible clue was the damage at the curve and the truck’s wheels rising from the water. By the time rescue crews arrived, the driver was still alive, still talking and still pinned in a cab that had come to rest upside down.
Author note: Last updated March 16, 2026.