Victim fragmentation patterns and seat location supplements crash data: American Airlines flight 587

In 2001, American Airlines flight 587 crashed shortly after takeoff. All 260 people aboard and 5 people on the ground were killed. This study's objective was to explore the extent of victim injuries and fragmentation patterns along with their assumed seat locations as related to the crash event and the plane's structural damage.

There were 2058 body fragments recovered and, of those, 1750 have been identified. Autopsy reports detailing injuries and extent of fragmentation, flight manifest, and the NTSB Aircraft Accident Report were examined for correlations among injuries, seat location, and crash event. Using the AIS as a model, a fragmentation scale was designed to record injury location and severity, with a focus on the extremities.

More whole bodies were recovered from victims seated on the plane's right side and back half. Conversely, significantly more fragments for victims seated on the plane's left side were recovered. The increased fragmentation from victims on the left side is an irregular pattern, particularly because the last information from the flight data recorder showed the plane's sideslip to the right. However, there are no data for the flight's final 13.6 s. Most eyewitnesses recount the plane rolling left before crashing. The increased fragmentation of victims seated on the left is consistent with structural damage from a left side impact, corroborating eyewitness accounts.

Correlating victim injuries and fragmentation patterns, seat location, and the plane's structural damage can assist an investigation into plane crashes, particularly if flight data are missing.