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Fatal injuries due to direct helicopter propeller strike

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A Correction to this article was published on 19 September 2022

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Abstract

During a helicopter exercise, due to the scarce visibility caused by the presence of snow, a collision between a landing helicopter and one already on the ground occurred. The 40-year-old pilot of the already landed aircraft was killed as a result of a direct propeller impact in the right side of the pilot’s cockpit, while the co-pilot remained uninjured. At autopsy, the macroscopic characteristic findings in the form of cut injuries and amputations along the axis of the rotor blade impact as well as a 3D reconstruction through CT-Scan were analyzed and discussed for a thorough reconstruction of the injuries and the dynamics.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences, Charité - University Medicine Berlin, Turmstrasse 21 Haus N, 10559, Berlin, Germany

    Larissa Amadasi, Alberto Amadasi & Michael Tsokos

  2. Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences, UKSH Universitätsklinikum Schleswig- Holstein, 24105, Kiel, Germany

    Claas Thade Buschmann

Authors
  1. Larissa Amadasi
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  2. Alberto Amadasi
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  3. Claas Thade Buschmann
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  4. Michael Tsokos
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Correspondence to Alberto Amadasi.

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Amadasi, L., Amadasi, A., Buschmann, C.T. et al. Fatal injuries due to direct helicopter propeller strike. Forensic Sci Med Pathol 18, 545–548 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12024-022-00509-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12024-022-00509-x

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