-Caveat Lector- >From Boston Globe > Three died instantly, coroner reports > > By Joanna Weiss and Matthew Brelis, Globe Staff, 07/23/99 > > CHILMARK - John F. Kennedy Jr., his wife, and her sister died > instantly when their plane plunged into the ocean off the coast > of Martha's Vineyard, the Massachusetts coroner said yesterday. > > > > Meanwhile, the National Transportation Safety Board's > investigation continued. One source close to the probe said that > all the wreckage of the plane was brought up, including the > twisted fuselage and the cockpit panel. > > > > The panel, which contains the flight instruments, including the > air speed and airplane attitude indicators, could provide a > wealth of information on the plane's performance at the moment it > hit the water. > > > > All three victims were probably alive when the plane hit, but > died instantly, according to the report of Massachusetts Chief > Medical Examiner Richard J. Evans. > > > > After an examination that lasted less than four hours, Evans > reported that all three died from ''multiple traumatic > injuries.'' > > > > Investigators would not comment further on the condition of the > bodies or on the details of coroner's report. And they would not > say whether their study yielded insight into the biggest > lingering question: Why did Kennedy lose control of his plane > after starting a normal descent into Martha's Vineyard a week ago > tonight? > > > > The autopsy of a pilot or a passenger in a plane crash is usually > less complex than that of a murder victim, experts in forensic > pathology said. The cause of death is generally known, and the > bodies do not always lead investigators closer to the cause of > the wreck. > > > > Still, the autopsies in the Kennedy case were performed > especially quickly, pathologists said. The remains were taken to > a Bourne hospital at about 7:15 p.m. Wednesday night and released > to the victims' families at 11 p.m., according to the medical > examiner's office and the Cape and Islands district attorney's > office. > > > > Many jurisdictions refuse to perform autopsies at night, said > Robert Kirschner, a former deputy chief medical examiner for Cook > County, Ill. The haste in this case, he said, could lead to > questions about the investigation's thoroughness. > > > > In a high-profile case, he said, the pressures are high, and so > are the risks of carelessness. Kirschner pointed to other > autopsies associated with the Kennedy family - the investigation > that followed President John F. Kennedy's assassination and the > questions surrounding the death of Mary Jo Kopechne 30 years ago, > in the Martha's Vineyard car crash on Chappaquiddick. > > > > ''You can't let ... those kinds of pressures alter your > routines,'' Kirschner said. ''If you alter your procedure and do > things differently, then you're always going to run into > problems.'' > > > > Still, Jay Dix, chief medical examiner for several Missouri > counties, said autopsies can usually be completed in 45 minutes > to several hours, depending on the circumstances of the death. > > > > In a plane crash case, pathologists first try to determine > whether a medical condition, such as heart disease or a brain > rupture, could have led the pilot to lose control, Kirschner > said. Examiners might look at the pilot's lower extremities, > checking for the impact of a rudder on the bottom of a shoe, or > some other sign of what the pilot was doing. > > > > Pathologists also follow complex rules for testing a pilot for > drug and alcohol use, Dix said. After every plane crash, the NTSB > and Federal Aviation Administration send investigating > pathologists a box of containers and bags that are used to > collect samples. > > > > Autopsies of the plane's passengers are not always needed, Dix > said, though pathologists usually perform X-rays to determine > victims' injuries. > > > > Passenger autopsies are also useful, Kirschner said, if a > victim's family sues for damages related to the crash. A medical > examiner could determine whether the victim suffered in the > moments before death, or survived in the minutes or hours after > the crash. > > > > The timing of the Kennedy investigation, Kirschner said, makes it > unlikely that pathologists performed autopsies on Carolyn > Bessette Kennedy or Lauren Bessette. > > > > ''You can't possibly do three investigations in four hours,'' he > said. > > > > Still, Dix said, the speed of the investigation, and the fact > that it was performed at night, probably will not affect the > results. > > > > ''You have qualified people doing it,'' he said. > > > > This story ran on page A14 of the Boston Globe on 07/23/99. © > Copyright 1999 Globe Newspaper Company. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Via ReasonMag > - - Quote of the Week - - > > "It took a lot of water to get it just right," Cleve Kapala, > director of government affairs for Pacific Gas & Electric, on the > utility releasing four billion gallons of water so that Vice > President Al Gore's canoe would not get stuck during an > environmental photo opportunity on the Connecticut River in > Cornish, New Hampshire. The utility was asked by the Connecticut > River Joint Commission and Secret Service agents to release > enough water to keep the canoe afloat, but not so much as to make > it dangerous. > > http://www.washtimes.com/politics/toppolitical.html > http://dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/ap/elections/story.html?s=v/ > ap/199907 23/e l/gore_afloat_1.html A<>E<>R ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. -Marcel Proust + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + "Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your common sense." --Buddha + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + A merely fallen enemy may rise again, but the reconciled one is truly vanquished. -Johann Christoph Schiller, German Writer (1759-1805) + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + It is preoccupation with possessions, more than anything else, that prevents us from living freely and nobly. -Bertrand Russell + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + "Everyone has the right...to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers." 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