The reconstruction of the pilot in command murder case in the aircraft OK ADN L410 Turbolet

Overview

The aim of this paper is to reconstruct the hijacking case of an aircraft on the Mariánské Lázně – Prague route in 1972 and the shooting of its pilot in command in light of new facts, mainly autopsy reports from both Germany and Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. These reports contained absolutely opposite findings, both in terms of the findings themselves and their resulting interpretations.

Since it is still not yet known exactly what happened in the plane, a reconstruction was carried out in an identical aircraft in the Aviation Museum in Kunovice. During the reconstruction, all possible (including theoretical) situations that may have occurred in the aircraft were examined. It was found that this could not have been a premeditated intentional murder, but that the shot could only have occurred during a passenger skirmish, and one that must have resulted in a very rare situation at that. From a political-medical point of view however, there are still several questions that cannot be answered even with the best of intentions.

Keywords:

hijacking – gunshot wound – Autopsy – autopsy report