MEDICOLEGAL ASPECTS OF THE THAI AIRBUS CRASH NEAR KATHMANDU, NEPAL - FINDINGS OF THE INVESTIGATING PATHOLOGISTS

A Thai Airbus, carrying 99 passengers and 14 crew members, traveling f rom Bangkok to Kathmandu, hit a mountain and crashed several minutes b efore landing. There were no survivors. Recovered human remains, none of which was easily identifiable, varied in size from a small piece of muscle to mutilated bodies. Of the 97 fragments, only 15 were suffici ently intact (albeit, only partially) to be designated as ''bodies.'' Of the fragments and ''bodies,'' only 11 were positively identified. C auses of death, although all traumatic, could not be stated accurately due to the degree of disintegration. Identification of human remains in these circumstances is a major problem for the pathologist.