A Report of the Injuries Sustained in Iran Air Flight 277 that Crashed near Urmia, Iran

Background: On January 9, 2011 Iran Air Flight 277 crashed during approach to Urmia, Iran. Out of 105 passengers, 27 survived. This brief report presents a perspective of the passenger s sustained injuries. Methods: We reviewed the recorded injuries of all passengers as provided by the Legal Medicine Organization authorities. The Injury Severity Score (ISS), an anatomical scoring system, was used to provide an overall code for those who survived with multiple anatomical injuries. Results: There were a total of 96 ISS body region injuries among those who survived. Facial injuries (83%) were the most frequent injuries noted among fatalities, which was statistically significant (P = 0.000). In those who survived, injuries to the head and neck (37%) and facial (33%) regions were relatively less frequent than other anatomical regions. The most serious injuries among survivors belonged to the extremity (85%) region, particularly lower limb fractures (62%). Differences in extremity injuries between the survivors and fatalities were not statistically significant. Conclusion: The findings of this study were similar to other studies where the most frequent serious injuries were fractures of the extremities, particularly the lower limbs.