By Cpl Jonathan Garland
A SOLDIER in South Australia has released a proposal for a DNA repository for ADF aircrew to be established at the Institute of Aviation Medicine.

The report reviews disaster victim identification (DVI) and examines the role of DNA in the identification of human remains after aircraft accidents.

Capt Adrian Smith, SO3 Avn Med at RAAF Institute of Aviation Medicine, said the DNA repository would aid identification of human remains without causing additional distress to grieving next of kin.

“Asking a grieving family to find and give up a personal item of the deceased to aid in DNA matching can cause additional distress,” he said.

“The only other way we can do it is to obtain a reference sample of DNA while people are still alive.”

The proposal rises out of a review of aircrew fatalities in the ADF.

“We’ve had 144 fatal accidents since 1945 and we’ve had 301 fatalities, of which 248 were aircrew fatalities.”

After reviewing 117 autopsy reports, Capt Smith found 33 per cent could not be positively identified and 12 per cent were fragments of tissue rather than discrete bodily remains.

“The fact that a third of them [the sample of 117] couldn’t be positively identified might have been acceptable in the 1970s but a modern coroner would almost certainly require DNA to positively establish an identity,” he said.

DNA repositories have been established overseas – the UK has a voluntary system for aircrew and the US Defense Department has a universal, compulsory system in which all members must participate to be deployable.

For legislative reasons, any Australian system would be voluntary, with the member able to withdraw consent at any time.

Records would be kept in tamper-proof containers in a safe at a secure location for release to the relevant state coroner as required.

The blood sample would be stored on a specially treated card that would then be dried, bar coded, closed and signed by the member and a duplicate bar code attached to the envelope.

“The bottom line is we can minimise the stress for a grieving family by eliminating the need for them to be involved in identification of remains – and that has to be a good thing.”

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