The importance of autopsy examination in major disasters

It is appreciated that there are national and jurisdictional variations in regard to post-mortem dissections following accidental death. The purpose of this paper is to plead that, since there will be nationals of many states involved in an aircraft disaster, there should be a uniform system of forensic investigation on a world wide basis. The justification for this recommendation is illustrated through the investigation of accident causes and through the solution of the many problems relating to the settlement of probate which arise in accidental death. The causes of accidents which may be discovered by autopsy include crew incapacitation and criminality of all types. The emergency status may also be revealed and the type of accident, particularly whether in a controlled or uncontrolled phase, may become clear. The medico-legal problems to be resolved include those concerning payment of insurance policies, including the degree of life expectancy, and especially the disposal of estates when members of a family apparently die together. The resulting payments to beneficiaries may be quite different depending on the quality of the autopsy. These investigations are complementary to, and do not interfere with, the identification process but they are time consuming and expensive.