Treatment for Plane Crash Victims Improving

Travel Blog  •  Eva Holland  •  12.23.08 | 2:08 PM ET

In the wake of Saturday’s dramatic Denver plane crash, the AP has a story on the ways in which post-crash treatment—both for survivors, and for the families of victims—has improved over the last decade.

In the old days, Joshua Freed writes, “little care was taken to return personal possessions of crash victims or, in some cases, even their remains. Families tried in vain to reach airlines to find out whether their loved one was on board the plane, and whether they lived or died.” But following the TWA flight 800 crash in 1996, new measures were put in place, and—says a representative of a crash survivors’ group—“there have been some huge improvements.”

Of course, there’s always room for more. The Twitter user who broke the story of the Denver crash (in which, thankfully, no one was killed) had one major complaint in the hours after his escape: “Continental keeping us locked up at the presidents club until they can sort everything out. Won’t even serve us drinks,” he wrote at the three-hour mark. Then, one minute later: “You have your wits scared out of you, drag your butt out of a flaming ball of wreckage and you can’t even get a vodka-tonic.”


Eva Holland is co-editor of World Hum. She is a former associate editor at Up Here and Up Here Business magazines, and a contributor to Vela. She's based in Canada's Yukon territory.


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