The defect
Blue Bird Body Company (Blue Bird) is recalling certain 2019-2021 All American and Vision school buses. An insufficient number of rivets were installed in the roof sheets, allowing the roof sheets to separate in the event of a severe impact. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 221, "School Bus Body Joint Strength."
The risk
In the event of a crash, if the roof sheets separate, there is an increased risk of injury.
The remedy
Blue Bird will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the roof joints and add the sufficient number of rivets, as necessary, free of charge. The recall began October 22, 2019. Owners may contact Blue Bird customer service at 1-478-822-2242. Blue Bird's number for this recall is R19AH.
NHTSA's own wording · initiated by MFR
Vehicles covered
| Model | Model years |
|---|---|
| Blue Bird ALL American | 2019 |
| Blue Bird ALL American School Bus | 2020, 2021 |
| Blue Bird ALL American Transit Bus | 2021 |
| Blue Bird Vision | 2019 |
| Blue Bird Vision School Bus | 2020, 2021 |
| Blue Bird Vision Transit Bus | 2020, 2021 |
Components: STRUCTURE:BODY:ROOF AND PILLARS
Model years in this recall
NHTSA complaints and the number of recall campaigns for each model year this recall covers.
| Model | Year | Complaints | Recalls |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blue Bird ALL American | 2019 | 2 | 26 |
| Blue Bird ALL American School Bus | 2020 | 4 | 20 |
| Blue Bird ALL American School Bus | 2021 | 0 | 18 |
| Blue Bird ALL American Transit Bus | 2021 | 0 | 9 |
| Blue Bird Vision | 2019 | 0 | 41 |
| Blue Bird Vision School Bus | 2020 | 0 | 29 |
| Blue Bird Vision School Bus | 2021 | 1 | 26 |
| Blue Bird Vision Transit Bus | 2020 | 0 | 15 |
| Blue Bird Vision Transit Bus | 2021 | 0 | 13 |
Other structure recalls in 2019
58 of the 880 recall campaigns reported to NHTSA in 2019 concerned the structure; Blue Bird Body Company filed 162 campaigns in all.
| 19V873000 10 Dec 2019 | Jayco, Inc. |
| 19V870000 9 Dec 2019 | ARBOC Specialty Vehicles, LLC |
| 19V865000 5 Dec 2019 | Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) |
| 19V842000 22 Nov 2019 | Transportation Collaborative, Inc. |
| 19V840000 21 Nov 2019 | Jaguar Land Rover North America, LLC |
| 19V836000 20 Nov 2019 | Temsa |
| 19V825000 18 Nov 2019 | Ducati North America |
| 19V824000 18 Nov 2019 | Forest River, Inc. |
NHTSA recalls (public domain) · all recalls of 2019