National Forensic Doctor

Chapter 1290: Chapter 1216 Peace_2

Meanwhile, on the other end of the video conference, there were professionals hired by Avi who began manually translating the autopsy report.

The progress on both sides was roughly the same.

By the time Alessio had reluctantly finished reading the autopsy report with the translator, a more professional version of the report had also been sent over.

Alessio read through the latter again without a word.

Stefano waited patiently.

On the curtain on the wall, small avatars of some experts could be seen also looking down and reading the translated documents, but very few people needed to read the pure autopsy report. Most, such as aviation experts, were just waiting for the conclusions.

After a long time, Alessio looked up.

"How is it?" Stefano asked.

"From a forensic doctor’s perspective..." Alessio’s voice was a bit dry, "The Chinese forensic doctor indeed proved it was a mechanical failure rather than human error."

The small avatars in the video conference suddenly became chaotic.

In the on-site meeting room, several personnel from Avi Airlines looked at Alessio with uncertain expressions.

The president of Avi Airlines’ China Division sharply said, "There are various reasons why planes crash. How can he rule out human error?"

He knew the official report wouldn’t write recklessly, so he had already lowered his bottom line to include non-exclusion.

Alessio swallowed and said, "From the autopsy report, first, the pilot was not under the influence of alcohol or known drugs..."

"There are many kinds of drugs; we can raise an objection," the company’s lawyer immediately presented his corresponding viewpoint.

Alessio, as a forensic doctor, was disdainful of this and said, "They have left blood samples; you can try raising a re-examination request to a third-party institution."

The lawyer immediately fell silent.

Alessio continued, "Second, the trauma pattern is consistent, mainly burn injuries."

This time, no one raised objections.

Alessio sighed and added, "The third point, also the most important one, the Chinese forensic doctor confirmed the victim’s respiratory tract burns, and confirmed it was a pre-mortem burn."

"What do you mean?" The president sensed something was wrong.

Alessio said, "Pre-mortem burns indicate that before the pilot’s death, there were already large amounts of high-temperature gases inside the cabin. Considering the burns on the pilot’s lower limbs and feet, with the feet being charred and thighs burned, one can deduce that the high-temperature gas rose from below. It’s highly probable that the high-temperature gas leaked from the floor. Is there a possibility that this plane’s engine or exhaust pipe ruptured, causing a leak at the pilot’s feet?"

The faces of Avi Company’s employees present turned grim.

The lawyer immediately said, "You don’t need to answer that question. Mr. Alessio, you only need to explain the autopsy report, not ask questions."

Alessio was not surprised. Avi Company did not have its own forensic doctor and could only hire externally; otherwise, the lawyer might have asked him to leave by now.

"You say pre-mortem burns, are you sure? Can you differentiate between burns that occurred before death and after death? Or perhaps, can a recently deceased person still bear signs of pre-mortem burns?" The lawyer’s questions followed one after another.

"It is possible to differentiate. But if you must say that, indeed, a person who just died can still exhibit signs of life’s response..."

"Then that’s it! Doesn’t this prove that you still can’t determine if it’s a pre-mortem burn or a post-mortem one?"

At this point, Alessio wouldn’t listen to the lawyer and said, "It’s not that simple..."

"Mr. Alessio, I’m sure it’s very complicated; otherwise, you should have found out the cause earlier, right?" The lawyer chuckled twice.

Alessio paused for a moment, then noticed the lawyer’s smug smile, shook his head, and said, "I can only observe from the side, and due to centrifugal force, the trachea’s mucosa of the corpse was torn. Meanwhile, the organs inside the thoracic cavity followed the esophagus and respiratory tract, then exited through a neck opening. These organs flew out wrapped with torn trachea mucosa, leaving little mucosa remaining, making it difficult to confirm; the Chinese forensic doctor found it."

The lawyer listened to these rare terms and was stunned, probably still simulating the route in his mind, unable to speak for a moment.

Alessio continued, "The Chinese forensic doctor probably had suspicions, which is why they deliberately found a piece of remaining trachea mucosa and took samples. The edema and congestion of the respiratory tract mucosa are distinguishable between pre-mortem and life response, especially with high-temperature gases. If a person has died, there would be no breathing response posthumously. Thus, with no severe burns outside the neck but congestion and edema within the respiratory tract, it’s apparent evidence of pre-mortem burns."

The president then slowly spoke, "Does confirming the pilot’s respiratory tract burns occurred pre-mortem prove the airplane had mechanical failure? Perhaps pilot error occurred first, followed by the high-temperature gas leak?"

"I don’t understand these matters, you could ask your aviation experts. But high-temperature gases must have a source, right?" Alessio wasn’t concerned, or rather, after seeing the autopsy report, he gradually calmed down.

As a forensic doctor, after seeing the autopsy report, he could easily understand what Jiang Yuan had done, but recalling the autopsy process, Alessio couldn’t confirm that if he had conducted the autopsy himself, he would have deliberately sought the torn trachea fragments and also found them.

Most importantly, Alessio knew this wasn’t luck.

This corpse had lost many internal organs. More precisely, all the internal organs in this corpse were thrown out. In terms of importance, such an autopsy would naturally prioritize the heart, as it provides the apex blood for toxicological testing. Next would be stomach contents, which help determine what the deceased consumed before death. Beyond that, the brain and bladder are also relatively important, followed by the liver and lungs...

No matter how you prioritize, the trachea would rank very low, especially when there are no burn marks outside the neck. One wouldn’t think to seek trachea fragments. Maybe with other indications, one might later think it necessary to check, but under such circumstances, if the neck wasn’t carefully checked at the time, it would be impossible to find anything in a later secondary dissection.

Even if one turned back to search after the abdominal cavity dissection started, it might still be difficult to locate any remaining trachea fragments, as they might have been torn to shreds and just a tiny bit left inside.

Even the choice made with the first incision during the start of the autopsy could influence this outcome.

By the time Alessio thought of this, he had already made his peace.

At this moment, yesterday’s aviation expert, an insider from Avi Airlines, and the top aviation expert Ricardo pressed the speaking key and said, "Maybe pilot error caused the plane crash, but the pilot surprisingly survived, only to be killed by high-temperature gases."

"If that were the case, the pilot’s face would have burn injuries. It wouldn’t be like now where the high-temperature gas rose from the feet up, with no burns above the abdomen, but the pilot had swollen trachea. Hence, at that time, it must have been within a narrow confined space, meaning the cockpit canopy wasn’t shattered yet." After getting the answers, Alessio found it much easier to respond.

Ricardo focused on thinking, hesitated for two seconds, then said, "Perhaps the pilot, during the flight, suddenly wanted to light a cigar which accidentally dropped, causing a fire and leading to the ultimate tragedy. Trust me, I’ve read about such incidents in company reports; these pilots do all sorts of things while flying!"

Alessio was taken aback by Ricardo’s wild imagination. noveldrama

The president and directors of Avi Airlines were momentarily invigorated.

Stefano couldn’t help but glance at Alessio and asked, "Does this explanation hold water?"

Alessio curled his lips, "I’m not an aviation expert, but I guess the aircraft wreckage should prove something, such as finding a cracked exhaust pipe. And from a forensic perspective, I think based on the severity of the burn areas on the body, the Chinese forensic doctor could precisely pinpoint the origin or rupture location. If that spot happens to coincide with the exhaust piping, how would you explain that?"

Ricardo: "The cigar just happened to fall there?"

"And rapidly generated high temperatures?" Alessio laughed.

Director Stefano coughed twice, "The exhaust pipe is only a few inches. You say establishing the ignition source location based on the burn severity would seem difficult to assert with such precision, right?"

"It’s somewhat difficult, but I believe Jiang Yuan... this Chinese forensic doctor can definitely manage it." Alessio raised the autopsy report in his hand.

The meeting room returned to silence, and the small avatars representing video conference participants also fell into unanimous quiet.