A provincial inquiry is looking into the fatal school bus crash in October 2007. (Chris Bolin/Canadian Press)

The driver of a school bus that crashed killing a Calgary girl on board was listening to an iPod and might have dozed off prior to the collision, an inquiry heard.

Kathelynn Occena, nine, was killed when the bus she was in veered onto the shoulder of Crowchild Trail on Oct. 18, 2007, and smashed into a gravel truck that was parked there after a mechanical breakdown. The bus then careened into a light pole.

A provincial fatality inquiry cannot find blame, but is probing driving training and bus safety in this case to prevent similar situations in the future.

Bus driver Louise Rogers admitted to using the digital media player and possibly falling asleep, according to Calgary police Const. Robert Pughe on Monday. She told the officer she didn't know what happened.

Pughe, one of the first responding officers on scene, said Rogers was so emotional that he took her to the hospital out of concern for her mental state.

Kathelynn Occena, nine, was killed when her Calgary school bus crashed into a parked gravel truck in October 2007. (Family photo)

Pughe also told the inquiry that cellphone records and toxicology reports confirm Rogers was not talking on the phone or abusing prescription drugs at the time of the crash.

The bus was taking children to two private schools on the old Currie Barracks grounds in Calgary's southwest. All 11 children on the 30-passenger bus suffered various injuries and were taken to hospital.

Const. Kenneth Reed, a police reconstruction expert, told the inquiry there was no evidence of emergency brakes or emergency steering being applied before the crash.

There was no explanation for the bus leaving its lane and drifting into the curb, Reed said, unless the driver was possibly distracted or fell asleep before the crash.

It took police five months to sift through witness accounts and other evidence before concluding in March 2008 that criminal charges were not warranted against the bus driver.

Rogers, 42, pleaded guilty in September 2008 to a single charge of careless driving under the Traffic Safety Act. She was fined $2,300 — the maximum penalty allowed — and her driver's licence was suspended for 90 days.

Driver 'traumatized'

She is still deeply affected by Kathelynn's death, said lawyer Frank Tosto, who also representing both Rogers and the Third Academy, which owned the bus, at the inquiry.

"That weighs heavily on her. So she is still traumatized by this."

'There's some question as to the underlying circumstances of this accident.'— Frank Tosto, lawyer

Tosto said he expects the inquiry process will reveal new details about the tragedy.

"There's some question as to the underlying circumstances of this accident," he said. "I think that you'll find what was originally reported may not in fact be the case."

Genevieve Occena, Kathelynn's mother, said at the time Rogers' sentence was far from adequate.

The accident raised concerns about the standards and qualifications for school bus drivers. But according to Tosto, the procedures in place for screening, hiring and evaluating drivers are adequate.

Rogers, as well as students on the bus, are slated to testify at the inquiry, which is scheduled to run until April 6.

With files from Brooks Decillia