Mechanism of injury in aircraft accidents--a theoretical approach.
The forensic principles for the examination of wounds are well known (1, 15), and many authors have written at length about the way in which injuries can be classified and how this can be related to their cause. Incised wounds inflicted by knives, and stellate, bursting-type injuries due to blunt objects for example, are commonplace in any forensic practice. Thankfully, although there has been a recent upsurge, aircraft accidents are not common, and so it is conceivable that few pathologists will be called upon to investigate them. Nevertheless, because of the diagnostic importance of the findings, in the context of air safety, pathologists should be aware of the major potential findings. The reasons why aircraft accidents are investigated with greater thoroughness than road traffic accidents, for example, are based upon the early recognition of hazards thought to be attributable to flight. Although many of the early fears were based more upon possibilities than on probabilities, they have left us with a legacy of a comprehensive investigating system. This has had, in turn, its effects in improving flight safety. This paper looks at the basis for this, as illustrated by the mechanism of the injury involved.
Hill
I R
IR
RAF Institute of Pathology and Tropical Medicine, Halton, Aylsebury, Bucks, U.K.
D000060:Accidents, Aviation; D000818:Animals; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D006801:Humans; D013534:Survival; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology