Unexpected findings in the investigation of an airplane crash

We report on the discovery at autopsy of an unexpected cause of a crash dur ing landing of a small sports plane with four people on board. Surprisingly , an intact bullet and fragments of the casing were found in the body of th e pilot. As expected, autopsy of the other passengers predominantly reveale d signs of polytraumatization. In addition, one passenger had a tunnel woun d to the left hand and another, a soft tissue tear between the thumb and fo refinger of the right hand. These wounds were considered to be associated w ith a shooting incident in the cabin. The autopsy findings and additional g unpowder trace investigations suggested that the pilot had been incapacitat ed by a shot from behind, resulting in the plane crash. The present finding s underscore the importance of conducting autopsies on all air crash victim s. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.