The Helderberg air disaster--forensic odontological investigations

A Boeing 747-224B Combi of the South African Airways, the "Helderberg", crashed into the sea near Mauritius on 28 November 1987. All 159 people on board died and dental tissues were present in only eight of the 15 lots of human remains recovered. Ante-mortem dental records were collected by a team in Johannesburg while the post-mortem examinations were conducted in Mauritius. The special circumstances surrounding an accident at sea resulted in the low number of bodies available for identification procedures. Of the eight remains which included dental tissues, five were identified by means of simple dental restorations, advanced dentistry, anatomical features of teeth and stages of development of teeth. One of the victims was identified by a process of exclusion and radiographic evidence played a decisive role in the identification process. (J Forensic Odontostomatol 1994; 12: 15-18) The variety of record-keeping styles and abbreviations used in different countries posed a major problem during the process and it is concluded that international standardization in record-keeping requires urgent attention.