Predicting the Location of Human Remains on WWII Bombardment Aircraft Crash Sites

Summary

Examination of eight WWII bombardment aircraft loss incidents that have been resolved by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) since 2000 has allowed for the creation of a model that predicts where human remains can be expected to be recovered from within a crash scene based upon each crew member’s individual duty station. This paper will detail how the remains identification process was utilized in order to determine where each individual was found in relation to the aircraft wreckage at the various crash sites, including those criteria necessary for a case to be included in the model and how hypotheses were developed. These hypotheses were then tested against an additional, previously unexamined loss incident. Results detailing how far remains can be expected to be found from the individual’s corresponding duty station wreckage and maximum spread within a crash site are provided. Additionally, for the cases included in this study, it is determined that the physics of the crash primarily dictates where individuals will be found within a crash site, not the actions of the crew or post-depositional processes.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

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