New crash brace position came out of the horror of Kegworth

RECOMMENDATIONS by surgeon John Rowles – now a consultant at Derbyshire Royal Infirmary – for a new crash brace position for passengers were implemented by all airlines after the Kegworth air disaster,

Mr Rowles said: "I wasn't at the scene of the Kegworth air crash but I remember watching it on the news that night.

"I was shocked at the enormity of the incident and envisaged the chaos at Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham.

"I had worked in the orthopaedic and trauma unit at the hospital having completed my training at the Nottingham Medical School and pre-registration posts at the Nottingham City Hospital, before moving to a hospital in Bristol.

"Dr Angus Wallace, professor of orthopaedic and accident surgery at Nottingham's Queen's Medical Centre, and Christopher Colton, of the department of orthopaedic and accident surgery at the University of Nottingham Medical School, asked me to undertake the study into air crash safety and I accepted.

"My brief was to analyse the mechanical forces generated by the crash at each seat position.

"Part of my job was to interview or visit every single survivor of the crash, which entailed a lot of travelling to London and Belfast.

"We rigged up crash test dummies and fired them down a test rig to try to mimic the accident.

"It was during this time that myself and my team realised the crash brace position, in which passengers kept their feet in front of them, was causing huge lower leg trauma.

"On impact, we discovered that arms and legs were flailing forward and impacting on the seats in front, causing injury.

"In our report, we recommended a new brace crash position. Passengers should adopt a crouch position, like a ball.

"Hands should be clasped firmly on top of the head and elbows outside the knees.

"Heads should rest against the structure in front. Legs should be positioned with feet together but slightly behind the knee.

"Coping with the disaster was for many people a new experience and we all learned a number of lessons in the practical management of disasters.

"This has helped our understanding of the management of mass casualty situations and has had a direct effect on how we deal with patients in our NHS accident and emergency departments.

"I for one learned a great deal from the work I carried out."