Aerospace Medicine Technical Reports
FAA Office of Aerospace Medicine
Civil Aerospace Medical Institute
Report No: DOT/FAA/AM-69/18
Title and Subtitle: The safety significance of aircraft accident post mortem findings.
Report Date: October 1969
Authors: Siegel PV, Mohler SR, Cierebiej A.
Abstract: A review of post mortem examinations obtained in 1968 of pilot victims of general aviation aircraft accidents reveals that 51 percent of the pilot victims were studied by pathologists. The post mortem examination population above was taken from 687 pilot fatalities in general aviation accidents occurring within the United States in 1968. The percent of post mortem examinations obtained in 1968 represents considerable progress in comparison to earlier years.
Without an aircrew autopsy, the probable cause almost always consists of a higher proportion of conjecture than is otherwise the case. The full utility of the important data resulting from these examinations is going to depend, however, upon the addition of certain quantitative data to that in the current verbally descriptive protocol almost universally encountered. This is particularly pertinent in relation to computer assisted analytic studies of broad scale concerning post mortem findings.
Key Words: AVIATION ACCIDENTS, PATHOLOGY, MORTALITY RATE, AVIATION SAFETY, CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASES, AVIATION MEDICINE, ATHEROSCLEROSIS, AGING (PHYSIOLOGY), AIRCRAFT.
No. of Pages: 16
Civil Aerospace Medical Institute
Report No: DOT/FAA/AM-69/18
Title and Subtitle: The safety significance of aircraft accident post mortem findings.
Report Date: October 1969
Authors: Siegel PV, Mohler SR, Cierebiej A.
Abstract: A review of post mortem examinations obtained in 1968 of pilot victims of general aviation aircraft accidents reveals that 51 percent of the pilot victims were studied by pathologists. The post mortem examination population above was taken from 687 pilot fatalities in general aviation accidents occurring within the United States in 1968. The percent of post mortem examinations obtained in 1968 represents considerable progress in comparison to earlier years.
Without an aircrew autopsy, the probable cause almost always consists of a higher proportion of conjecture than is otherwise the case. The full utility of the important data resulting from these examinations is going to depend, however, upon the addition of certain quantitative data to that in the current verbally descriptive protocol almost universally encountered. This is particularly pertinent in relation to computer assisted analytic studies of broad scale concerning post mortem findings.
Key Words: AVIATION ACCIDENTS, PATHOLOGY, MORTALITY RATE, AVIATION SAFETY, CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASES, AVIATION MEDICINE, ATHEROSCLEROSIS, AGING (PHYSIOLOGY), AIRCRAFT.
No. of Pages: 16
Last updated: Friday, June 1, 2012