NCJ Number
136027
Journal
Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 37 Issue: 2 Dated: (March 1992) Pages: 585-589
Date Published
1992
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This analysis of the crash of China Airline Flight B-2510 on OCtober 2, 1990, at Baiyuen International Airport in Guangzhour, China, considers the possibility and reliability of reconstructing a disaster by medicolegal investigation.
Abstract
Flight B-2510, a Boeing 737 carrying 9 crew members and 93 passengers, was hijacked en route from Xiamen to Guangzhou. One hour later the pilot attempted an emergency landing at Baiyuen International Airport, but the plane left the runway and struck both Flight B-2402, a Boeing 707 with no occupants, and Flight B-2812, a Boeing 757 that had 118 passengers aboard and was ready to take off. A total of 128 fatalities and severe injuries to 52 persons resulted from the accident. This study classifies all the causes of death in all the fatalities. It shows that mechanical injury was the cause of death for almost all of the victims on Flight B-2812. The victims on Flight B-2510, however, mostly died from fire which included inhalation of superheated air and chemical gases. The cause of the crash and the situation of the plane while the disaster was occurring correlate directly with the causes of death and trauma among the fatalities. Information obtained from medicolegal investigation of the accident and initial seat diagrams of the passengers, provided useful clues in the reconstruction of the accident. 3 tables, 2 figures, and 8 references (Author abstract modified)