Analysis of injuries among pilots involved in fatal general aviation airplane accidents

The purpose of this study was to analyze patterns of injuries sustained by pilots involved in fatal general aviation (GA) airplane accidents. Detailed information on the pattern and nature of injuries was retrieved from the Federal Aviation Administration's autopsy database for pilots involved in fatal GA airplane accidents from 1996 to 1999. A review of 559 autopsies revealed that blunt trauma was the primary cause of death in 86.0% (N=481) of the autopsies. The most commonly occurring bony injuries were fracture of the ribs (72.3%), skull (55.1%), facial bones (49.4%), tibia (37.9%) and pelvis (36.0%). Common organ injuries included laceration of the liver (48.1%), lung (37.6%) heart (35.6%), and spleen (30.1%), and hemorrhage of the brain (33.3%) and lung (32.9%). A fractured larynx was observed in 14.7% of the cases, a finding that has not been reported in literature until now. It was observed that individuals who sustained brain hemorrhage were also more likely to have fractures of the facial bones rather than skull fractures.