# Do you get your stuff back after surviving a plane crash? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 23, 2008, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-your-stuff-back-after-surviving-a-plane-crash/478396 "2008-12-23T01:17:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Driver8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5a626/32.png) [@Driver8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Driver8)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2008, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-your-stuff-back-after-surviving-a-plane-crash/478396/1 "2008-12-23T01:17:50Z")
I was reading about the Denver crash ([http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28330517/](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28330517/)) and was wondering about all the personal possessions left on board a plane as it is being evacuated. Assuming your checked or unchecked luggage, laptop, etc isn’t badly damaged or burned, do they fetch it from the plane once it is safe to do so, or is it lost forever as an investigation site? Obviously I would not give a damn about any of my stuff as I was escaping the plane, but I am sure it would occur to me after the fact. If anyone wants to chime in with more details about the investigation and clean up phase, I’d be interested in that too … do they rebuild the plane in an interior space for further analysis, etc? ---
**Author:** ![pilot141](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e0b2c6/32.png) [@pilot141](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pilot141)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2008, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-your-stuff-back-after-surviving-a-plane-crash/478396/2 "2008-12-23T05:53:43Z")
They won’t rebuild the plane anywhere - the only things missing are an engine and the landing gear, and they know where those are. They will document everything precisely and once the NTSB is done with it the aircraft will be released back to Continental. They repositioned the parts they recovered from TWA 800, but that was a special case. They did not have an intact airframe and since the airplane exploded in midair a reconstructed fuselage could at least tell the investigators where the explosion was and what parts were lost due to air loads after the fact. I can only make an educated guess about the luggage, but since none of it seems to be related to the accident (ie like the bomb on Pan Am 103) I would expect that it would be returned to the passengers once Continental regains the aircraft. Of course after the fire and everything that got sprayed on the airplane to put out the fire there may not be a whole lot left anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2008, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-your-stuff-back-after-surviving-a-plane-crash/478396/3 "2008-12-23T07:41:06Z")
from the OP’s link > [@](#): > > conducted preliminary reviews of the cockpit voice recorder Heard on the tape **OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO shIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIItttttttttttttttt!!!** 😃 ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2008, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-your-stuff-back-after-surviving-a-plane-crash/478396/4 "2008-12-23T07:49:03Z")
I know that after the [Lockerbie incident](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_Am_Flight_103) [QUOTE=Wikipedia] The people of the town washed, dried, and ironed every piece of clothing that was found, once the police had determined they were of no forensic value, so that as many items as possible could be returned to the relatives. [/QUOTE] However, this level of care is probably not usual. Si ---
**Author:** ![Jesse\_Leigh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7ea924/32.png) [@Jesse\_Leigh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jesse_Leigh)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2008, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-your-stuff-back-after-surviving-a-plane-crash/478396/5 "2008-12-23T11:09:11Z")
I survived a plane crash in 1990 (could have been 1991 - can’t recall) and I didn’t lose any luggage. I’ve lost plenty of luggage on planes which arrived safely, however. ROFLOL! - Jesse. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2008, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-get-your-stuff-back-after-surviving-a-plane-crash/478396/6 "2008-12-23T11:20:11Z")
> [@si\_blakely](#): > > I know that after the [Lockerbie incident](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_Am_Flight_103) However, this level of care is probably not usual. > > Si That choked me up.