The fear of flying has reached a fever after the tragedy with an Air India plane on June 12.
That fatal incident is just one of a series of recent aviation accidents to rattle the world.
In the US alone, there have been 55 fatal crashes this year – including a controversial disaster near Washington, DC, who killed six and housed the safety problems.
But beyond the headlines, few understand what actually happens to the human body when an airplane goes down.
Tony Cullen, a former aviation crash researcher who for decades analyzed the mechanics of fatal air disasters, devoted his career to studying how passengers die in Crashes in an attempt to improve the safety of the airline.
What he discovered paints a sobering image of what survivors and victims endure at their last moments.
The most common cause of injury, which Cullen found before he died in 2009 at the age of 70, is not a fire or drowning, but pure blunt-force trauma.
“Injuries are caused by the interaction of the victim by plane,” he wrote in one of his 2004 reports.
Although the impact of an airplane crash can cause death, fire is another great danger
‘In many crashes, the aircraft structure collapses and the individual is injured by impact with the hull. These injuries can include amputations, large cracks and crushing. ‘
When an airplane hits the ground or water, the sudden delay throws the body forward with violent power.
It is currently that critical damage is caused – not only for bones, but also for vital organs.
Cullen’s examination showed that breast injuries – including the ribs, spine and breastbone – occur in 80% of the victims, usually of the romp steeling limitations such as safety belts or parts of the aircraft itself.
These broken bones often become deadly weapons.
In almost half of the victims, Cullen studied, their hearts were torn and 35% had broken aortas (the largest artery in the body).
In some cases, the sharp ends of broken ribs have directly pierced the heart or blood vessels, causing devastating bleeding.
But more often: “It was the compression of the heart between the breastbone and the spine when the body was sandwiched in a chair that caused great internal bleeding.”
Spinal fractures were present in 45% of the fatalities, a consequence of the body that was shocked while it was locked in a sitting position.
Pelvic injuries were just as usual and appeared in approximately the same ratio.
The head doesn’t do better. Two -thirds of the victims rose head injury and in most of those cases it caused trauma or death.
Skull fractures – by beating the chair in front or flying debris – are especially deadly.
In the abdomen the damage is often just as profound.
Cullen discovered that more than two -thirds of the victims studied had abdominal wounds, usually from torn fixed organs such as the liver, spleen and kidneys. These organs burst under pressure, which led to fatal internal bleeding.
When an airplane is destabilized, even the content can become fatal within. “Overhead lockers are a certain source of loose items such as bottles that can cause considerable injury,” Cullen warned
Although safety belts in many crashes are life -saving, Cullen also discovered that they can cause injury. ‘Running over a round belt often causes tears in the lower part of the small intestine mesentery and other intestinal injury. The limitations themselves can fail ‘
Many also suffered torn apertures that can affect breathing – although not all such injuries are immediately fatal.
Limbs are rarely spared. Cullen found fractures in 80% of the fatalities, with leg fractures in 73.6% and arm fractures in 56.6%.
These also reveal instructions on how the body moved before death in the last seconds.
“Fractures of the tibia,” he noticed when “the legs wave forward and hit fixed structures or are stuck under the chair for the victim.”
Miraculously there was a survivor of the Air India -Crash, which came from the rubble that was still able to walk.
Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 40, was the only survivor of the devastating disaster on Thursday after he was ‘cast out’ before the plane hit the ground and exploded.
The survivor, who lives with his wife in London, traveled to Gatwick Airport in Seat 11A through the exit after a business trip with his brother Ajaykumar Ramesh, 35, who was on the other side of the aisle in Seat 11j and died in the explosion.
Amazing images showed Vishwash, who reportedly suffered injuries to his chest, eyes and feet, away from the scene of the crash.
Medical staff is currently treating him in a local hospital in Ahmedabad, where he told doctors that it started immediately after the aircraft set up and suddenly split in two before there was a loud explosion.
Vishwash’s window chair was to the front of the plane.
Experts agree that there is no universally safe place to be on an airplane – every crash is different – but Cullen noted that the plane landed in different incidents – first, which means that passengers with a greater risk are at the back.
For that reason, seats above the wings – near the center of gravity – are often considered marginally safer, especially in the consequences of the nose or tail -fast. These seats also experience less turbulence.
Limbs are rarely spared in aircraft accidents. Cullen found fractures in 80% of the fatalities, with leg fractures in 73.6% and arm fractures in 56.6%
Tony Cullen, who was a former international authority on aircraft accidents located from the UK, spent decades investigating how deaths take place in aircraft accidents in an attempt to improve safety in the air
When an airplane is destabilized, even the content can become fatal within.
“Overhead lockers are a certain source of loose items such as bottles that can cause considerable injury,” Cullen warned.
“Flying debris of overhead lockers was an important cause of head injury in the Boeing 737 disaster in Kegworth in January 1989.”
The Kegworth Air Disaster, also known as British Midland Flight 92, took place when a Boeing 737-400 crashed near Kegworth in the United Kingdom and killed 47 people and injured 74 more.
The crash was caused by a combination of factors, including a failure error of the fan on the left engine, a wrong diagnosis by the pilots and a failure to follow checklists properly.
Although safety belts in many crashes are life -saving, Cullen also discovered that they can cause injury.
‘Running over a round belt often causes tears in the lower part of the small intestine mesentery and other intestinal injury. The limitations themselves can fail. ‘
Pilots also suffer unique injuries.
Cullen noted that the positioning of their limbs often leaves a forensic record at the time of impact.
“Damage can occur in the hands and feet if they are on the ministry at the time of impact,” he wrote.
“The area between the thumb and the index finger is particularly injured if the control column is understood.”
If the pilot’s feet are on the stirring pedals, “they are subjected to excessive force on the soles that match the area of the pedals.”
Their heads can hit control panels – “Leave prints on the forehead or face.”
A possible design evolution is already being quietly assumed: facing seats in premium huts.
Cullen supported the concept in his 2004 report and noted that “this chair configuration is generally safer in the case of a crash because the seats backwards offer better protection to the head and neck.”
Pilots also suffer unique injuries. Cullen noted that the positioning of their limbs often leaves a forensic record at the time of impact
Ultimately, the legacy of Cullen’s work is not only forensic, it is practical.
Insight into how and why passengers die in aviation tramps contributed to the improvement of the safety protocols of airlines, cabin design and chances of survival.
An invention that helps researchers enormously, the ‘Black Box’ was developed by Dr. David Warren in the 1950s.
The device records flight data and crew interviews during the last moments for a crash.
But the grim biology of a crash remains cheeky proof of the immense forces that play when the flight meets the failure.
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