[Airplane crash near Schiphol Airport 25 February 2009: injuries and casualty distribution].

OBJECTIVE

To describe the injuries and distribution of casualties resulting from the crash of Turkish Airlines flight TK 1951 near Schiphol Airport on 25 February 2009.

DESIGN

Retrospective, descriptive.

METHOD

We reviewed the hospital case notes of all casualties of the airplane crash and scored triage at the scene, time to emergency department, Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) and Injury Severity Score (ISS), mortality, length of hospital stay and surgical procedures.

RESULTS

Of the 135 passengers, 9 died on the scene. A total of 126 survivors were examined in 15 hospitals; data from 125 were available for our research. Median time between crash and arrival at an Emergency Department was 3.5 hours (range 1.25-5.5 h). Six passengers were uninjured and 64 were admitted to hospital. A total of 297 injuries were registered. Most injuries were to the head and face (81), spinal injuries (31) and fractures of extremities (34). In the study group 17% of the patients had a spinal fracture. The mean ISS was 6.5 (range 1-57). In 12 patients the ISS was >or= 16. Surgical procedures (80) were necessary in 23 patients. There was no in-hospital mortality.

CONCLUSION

Of the 135 passengers, 9 died and 120 were injured. Although the accident was in an urban area, there was a significant delay between the accident and the arrival of the casualties at Emergency Departments. Most of the injuries were to the head and face, and to the spine and extremities.