Series of Nine Cases of Axial Displacement of Distal Tibial and/or Fibular Shafts from Aircraft Crashes with Proposal of Potential Mechanisms

Abstract Previously, a pair of aircraft crash fatalities was reported by Byard and Tsokos involving extreme trauma to the lower legs with avulsion of the musculature and extrusion of the distal tibial shaft through the inferior aspect of the feet and shoes. This report was important to both the forensics and the injury prevention fields because it demonstrates a finding that may help to indicate not only the severity and nature/direction of an impact but also the position of the extremities at the time of collision with the terrain. Thus, here are reported an additional nine cases out of a larger series of 1182 aircraft fatalities (0.7%) with similar findings and discuss the biomechanical origins of such injuries.