Princess Diana Crash Reconstruction

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Princess Diana Crash Reconstruction

Post by MSI »

April 2021: we renamed this topic Princess Diana Crash reconstruction
  • The forum title used to be New Book on Princess Diana crash with interview of the mystery Uno driver
  • However we've had many questions coming in which are unrelated to the book
  • We thought having a single topic keeps all scientific information on the crash in once place.
  • Please note: If you are interested in information on Tiger Woods crash it is on this link->Tiger Woods Crash
New: Use this link to go to the latest post (Dec 2023) on this topic/thread


New book on Princess Diana Crash: Some authors have written a book which includes interviews with the alleged Uno driver.

But first, a little background:
  • McHenry Consultants and Flying Foto Factory were hired in 1998 by CBS News and the program 48 Hours to investigate, reconstruct and create a 3D simulation video (msmac3D!) of the Princess Diana crash.
    Here is the segment of the program that we participated in: (6:30 mins long)

    For task specific portions of the video see the following links:
    • (NOTE: Edited Feb 2023 removed Tail Light Investigation section)
    Time on VideoLink to place in Video on Topic
    @0:30Dan Rather Introduction
    @0:76Start of Brian McHenry Interview
    @1:50Start of Casey Herbert Interview
    @2:18The Witnesses are the Car
    @2:54Start of Murray Mackay Interview
    @4:03Lack of Evidence of motorcycles in proximity
    @4:28Summary of McHenry Crash Investigation Findings
    @5:50Lack of Seat Belt Use
    @6:19Summary by Murray Mackay

    An Archived write-up on the work by NBC called "Recreating the Crash": SUMMARY:
    • As part of our crash investigation and reconstruction we found the interaction with the Uno was incidental 'a brush by'
      • and could NOT have in any way been a timed incident to try to cause the vehicle to crash.
      The causes of the crash were simply:
      • Excess speed into the downhill entrance of the tunnel,
      • Excess alcohol consumption by the driver to inhibit his ability to control the vehicle ,
      • Inability of the driver to control the vehicle such that after the left turn at the entrance to the tunnel the driver couldn't keep the vehicle in it's lane, and
      • NO barriers in front of the concrete posts in the tunnel (the vehicle hit concrete post #13)
        • Whereas the Paparazzi may have been the incentive for the Mercedes driver to speed excessively to try to escape them, the Paparazzi could not have been in proximity at the entrance to the tunnel since once the Mercedes struck the concrete pillar #13 the vehicle spun around across both lanes, with a speed change (reduction of 40+ MPH), so it would have stuck or impeded the movement of any motorcycles or any other vehicle in close proximity. Or as a minimum they would have left tire marks skidding to slow and swerve. (see photos, diagrams, etc below)
        • There were NO tire, skid or scrape marks by any other vehicles in area from the tunnel entrance to the area of rest of the Mercedes near Pillar #13 so NO VEHICLE or motorcycle could have been traveling anywhere near the speed of the Mercedes as it entered the tunnel.
        • It is proof that the Uno was traveling significantly slower than the Mercedes since it did not leave any skid or tire marks and/or interact with the Mercedes once the Mercedes struck Pillar#13 and spun around across all lanes. The Uno simply drove around the vehicle after it came to rest.
      • ...and lastly, Princess Diana did not wear her safety belt. Had she worn it she would have at least had a better chance to survive (it was a 45-50 MPH Impact speed change (Delta-V) so very high risk, but with a possibility of survival)

        Here is the video of the crash reconstruction (more views on video above):
      Also see:
    Here are links to stories on the new book: Main news services have not picked up on this story.
    If they actually found the Uno driver it merely represents a driver of a vehicle in proximity to and witnessing a crash who leaves the scene of the accident.
    Important points:
    • Except for the loss of a side view mirror the vehicle was NOT damaged! Why did the driver (if the real driver) choose to leave the crash scene? Only the driver knows.
      • Was he afraid of being arrested for DUI or expired license or something like that?
    • If, as the alleged driver has said, he has spoken with police WHY was he not arrested for leaving the scene of a crash?
      • Was it due to a statute of limitations on the crime of leaving the scene of an accident (its been 20+ years!)? Or more likely perhaps the police DID NOT believe that he was the 'Uno driver' and did not want to give him an international stage to pretend he was!
    To once again summarize what is in our interview on the video:
    • The Mercedes had excess entrance speed down into the tunnel,
    • The entrance to the tunnel required a left turn at the bottom of the decline into the tunnel
    • The presence of the Uno may have been a reason the Mercedes driver had an excess swerve to the left at the entrance to the tunnel
      • It did avoid the Uno as it had a very mild interaction with the Uno, only a side view mirror on the Uno was damaged,
    • The inability of the Mercedes driver to control the vehicle such that it could not be straightened out after the excess left hand swerve at the entrance to the tunnel and so the vehicle slammed into concrete post #13
    • Had the tunnel had protective guardrails or barriers in front of the posts
      • As it should have however i believe they still do not have any)
        the vehicle would have simply scraped along the barrier and not crashed into Post#13
    • and lastly, the lack of the occupants wearing their seat belts
      • NOTE: the RF passenger survived and DID wear his seatbelt (and had an airbag)
    princess diana crash stills.jpg
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    scene evidence reduced.png
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    #PrincessDianaCrash, #3DCrashReconstruction, #msmac3D, #McHenrySoftware, #PrincessDiana, #HVOSM, #SMAC, #CrashReconstruction, #McHenryConsultants
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    Re: Princess Diana Crash Reconstruction

    Post by MSI »

    Let the sensationalism begin!
    I hear some new twist, pitch, witness, theory, whatever...is on that fact finding center of intelligence show Dr. Phil!: From the Dr. Phil website:
    • "Princess Diana was one of the most beloved public figures in the world, and her death was a devastating loss. Now, after more than two decades, a private investigator claims he has new clues and information about what really happened when Princess Diana’s car crashed in a Paris tunnel, leading to her tragic death".
      Witnesses will give shocking new insight into Princess Diana’s untimely death on the Monday, September 23, episode of Dr. Phil.
      “This person that was inside the tunnel has never spoken about Princess Diana’s death – until now,” Dr. Phil McGraw says in the teaser for the upcoming episode with journalist Dylan Howard and..."
    um....why silent for sooooo long?...what might they have to offer?
    Does Dr. Phil have any crash reconstruction experts to review and analyze any 'new evidence'??
    And be sure what this 'new witness says' means anything aside from BS to create book sales???
    Be sure to review the facts of the case, before watching this new collection of sensationalism.
    Let Princess Diana rest in peace.
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    Re: Princess Diana Crash Reconstruction

    Post by MSI »

    Report in:
    Dr Phil program much ado bout nuthin..(well what'd ya expect??!! :-))

    The ONLY thing the alleged Uno driver said was (as translated on the program):
    • "he could not talk because police told him not to talk"
    Dr. Phil also had two witnesses on the show who were allegedly in a cab going the other way at some point after the crash,
    • Them and hundreds of others!...oh...wait...
      • and whadya know...
        THEY also have a NEW book out now too! (imagine that!)
    why both books 20+ years after??
    WHY?
    The Australian authors of the "main" new book "Diana: Case Solved", one of which purports to be an "expert" at crash reconstruction,
    said the following:
    • They said the speed of Mercedes as >100 MPH AT THE POST??!! WRONG!
    • They said the interaction with Uno occurred before the tunnel?? WRONG!
    • They said they found tire marks outside the tunnel, days later ??
      • After the crash and after watching the coverage, one of the authors boarded a plane from Australia and
        arrived at the scene days later
      • He saw skids he ASSUMED they were missed by the police and determined they were from the Mercedes!
      • MAYBE they also tested the rubber on the skidmarks on the road to see if the material on the road was the same material on the Mercedes tires??!!!
      • and I'll bet they also probably...
        • "...used a Hewlett-Packard 5710-A dual-column gas chromagraph with flame analyzation detectors..."
          • to determine that they were BOTH exactly the SAME MATERIAL...
          • ...rubber!!
        (For a comparison...please watch the expert from the movie My Cousin Vinny, Mr. Wilbur, Testimony!
    OK, back to the topic...
    • They said the Mercedes flew into the air and scraped the right side of the tunnel (WRONG)
      • They showed a silly animation with the car somehow flying though the air, striking the right side of the tunnel at +100 MPH?? and then strangely moving back to the left side and striking the post (i assume they knew it was post#13?)
        • Where was any damage/scraping/paint transfer on the wall from their 100+ MPH vehicle slamming into the side of the tunnel and bouncing off to left?? NO!
      • ALSO there were NO landing marks from the Mercedes after it crashed into the wall at their preposterous 100+ MPH speed
        A few other inconsistencies and errors in their analysis:
        • Somehow the vehicle miraculously left tire marks at the scene on the night of the crash MAINLY in the LEFT LANE of the tunnel leading up to POST#13.
        • There were NO tire marks from the Mercedes coming from the wall in tunnel RIGHT LANE!
        • The police measured and photographed tire marks which we matched in our crash investigation/reconstruction. They used a silly animation which does NOT obey Newtons laws
      • For our analysis we set up a mathematical model of the Mercedes, Uno and roadway and then simulated the vehicle matching the physical evidence (tire marks and damage).
    • They must believe some nefarious force came and created those marks IN THE LEFT LANE which went RIGHT UP TO and into Post#13?
    • They also want us to believe some nefarious force also came and CLEANED UP THE RIGHT LANE of all those marks which would have been created hitting and bouncing off the wall to the RIGHT of the RIGHT lane aT 100+ mph and then somehow coming back to the LEFT lane while leaving no marks in the Right lane! AND leaving no scraping or damage to the right side of the Mercedes! and then somehow striking Post#13
    The authors apparently DID NOT review, or chose to ignore, the police measurements and photos of the vehicle and scene!
    • and note, there were some issues with those tire mark measurements which we resolved (they had a transcription issue)
    The Dr Phil silliness was a Total sales pitch for nonsensical sensationalism book. Let Princess Diana Rest in Peace. It was a tragedy. NOT a conspiracy.
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    Re: Princess Diana Crash Reconstruction

    Post by MSI »

    These are screen shots taken from the Dr. Phil show.
    See this link to see the show w/audio: Here are the alleged tire marks they attribute to the Mercedes "that the police missed":
    • They state they somehow can determine the speed of the vehicle BASED on the length of the skidmarks THEY found at the scene some days or weeks after the actual crash (and they allege the police ignored!)
      • This sounds like reconstruction Rookie mistake 101! See Beginners Error#1 in Reconstruction 101
      • The length of a skidmark relationship to the vehicle speed is ALL ABOUT what the KNOWN or ASSUMED speed it at the END of the skidmarks
        • How does he know whether those marks he saw at the scene weren't from some other vehicle, similar in size to the Mercedes (assuming they checked if track width was similar) ,that may have skidded to a STOP at the end of the skidmark prior to the entrance to the tunnel?
          How do they know? What ties these arbitrary marks they found to the crash?
          NOTHING!
    Tire Marks alledged to be Mercedes.jpg
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    Below is a link to their crazy non-Newtonian ANIMATION, NOT SIMULATION wherein...
    • The somehow determined or assumed that the vehicle, at > 100 MPH!, lept into the air from the top of the slope before the tunnel after interaction with the Uno, then landed at bottom of the hill, striking the RIGHT side of the tunnel and (they claim) "Ricocheting off the right side of the tunnel wall", and then redirecting back to Left hand lane and crashing into POST#13.
      All this mayhem without leaving ANY tire marks or debris in the Right hand lane??
      If at >100 MPH and striking the Uno outside the tunnel entrance, where is ANY indication of that interaction?
    • Where are the skids, debris, damage/scraping/white paint from the Uno on the right side Mercedes?
      Note NO marking on the right side of the Mercedes here:
      right side of Mercedes.jpg
      right side of Mercedes.jpg (24.04 KiB) Viewed 114333 times
      And the alleged Uno driver mentions NOTHING of having to repair the vehicle except painting it RED?? (the only debris found at the scene (between the LEFT and RIGHT lanes) was a small amout of glass/debris from the side view mirror of the Uno)
      • At some point i will retrieve my old file where we had the police measurements and photos of the tire marks at the scene, NONE in RIGHT hand lane! No debris, no tire marks...YET...
        these folks want you to believe the vehicle at 100+ MPH bounced off the RIGHT side of the tunnel and then back across the left lane and crashed into Post#13?
        WHERE IS THE EVIDENCE OF ALL THAT??

        THERE WASN'T AND ISN'T ANY EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT ANY OF THIS!


    for a more realistic Reconstruction, here is the one we did for 48 Hours in 1998:
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    Re: Princess Diana Crash Reconstruction

    Post by MSI »

    A Question posted to my Youtube Video of the crash:
    • Question: So What happened to the white car?
    A: I expect the driver was drunk or scared so left the scene and then saw who died and somehow decided to hide/get rid of the vehicle.
    Not sure how since you'd think it difficult to hide?
    The recent book on the crash is trash however IF the "Uno driver" guy was the driver and he said he painted it red...
    • WHY didn't police check registration records for white Unos? HOW did they miss his and see that he painted it red?.
    It was not a major crash interaction between the Uno and the Mercedes. It would have in no way incapacitated or injured the driver
    • The driver, whomever he/she was, left the scene (and again, probably because drunk or unlicensed and didn't want to be caught part of a major crash)
    The new book begs the question:
    IF he was the driver and owner of the car: Why didn't the police arrest this guy?
    • Is it not against the law to leave the scene of an crash?
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    Re: Princess Diana Crash Reconstruction

    Post by MSI »

    Had a question posted to a comment section on what i meant about a barrier in front of the posts...
    Below are 2 different safety devices used to prevent crashing into bridge supports:
    1. a concrete median barrier in front of bridge support posts.
    2. a w-Beam barrier
    These barriers are meant to redirect an errant vehicle back into the lane of travel
    Had they been in the tunnel then the vehicle would NOT have struck any of the posts and it would have simply scraped along the barrier
    protection from bridge posts.jpg
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    W-Beam in front of Bridge supports.png
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    Re: Princess Diana Crash Reconstruction

    Post by MSI »

    A comment posted up today on the Youtube video:
    • COMMENT:If only the investigation had been properly conducted, and evidence collected. In the UK, the inquest did not even take place, until it was much too late. The official narrative is poorly substantiated, so the conspiracy theories can have a go.
    Our response:
    There was sufficient documentation of the evidence (damage to vehicle, tire marks, rest position) to come to the proper conclusion:
    • No way was it a conspiracy!
    • It was due to speed, DUI and lack of a protective barrier in front of the posts.
    • Some evidence was lost due to so many vehicles at the scene etc however as we point out, the damage to the car, the tire marks left by the car, there's no question the cause.
    • And as also pointed out IF the motorcycles had been anywhere close to the vehicle at the time of the crash, they would have been involved (the vehicle hit post#13 and spun out across both lanes of travel. Therefore NO vehicle could have been in proximity...
    • To time this type of 'hit job' is simply not possible...how the devil would they KNOW that the DUI driver would swerve to avoid the white Uno and crash into the posts?
    • And how to time the Uno entering into the right hand travel lane? This was 1997! Not today where maybe with cell and GPS! And how did they know the vehicle wouldn't simply rear end the Uno? or swerve and NOT strike the post?
    The only scratch your head and wonder issue is the slow moving/merging Uno which somehow vanished (possible DUI? or why else leave the scene?) after the incidental interaction with the Mercedes.
    • It ONLY lost it's side view mirror and got mildly scraped as the Mercedes sped by and then crashed.
    For the Uno to be part of a conspiracy that Uno would have had to:
    1. know the route of the fleeing vehicle (the driver took a random route and this was before cell phones and GPS trackers!)
    2. known the timing to pull out to scare the driver to swerve?
    3. known the driver would be so fast that he couldn't control the vehicle and so slam into an unprotected post
    However as with any and all high profile crashes or other things, the conspiracy nuts go wild with the cheese wiz (listen to link for source of that line) and believe what they will believe!
    It's a failure of the world education systems such that so many folks lose the ability to critically think and instead latch onto crazy ass conspiracy stuff with no basis in reality on many many things that happen.
    That it the world we live in!
    • Phones and the internet and news services all CAN provide the detailed truth on subjects,

      HOWEVER

      • The internet and lack of ethics and reality checks both in postings and in the news services (like #Fox etc) means that
        • We are surrounded with sounding boards for lunacy
        • LOUD MOUTHS get too much attention.
    • We live in the #AgeofDisinformation where lies and conspiracy theories thrive all over the world.
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    Re: Princess Diana Crash Reconstruction

    Post by MSI »

    In response to some recent comments made to our simulation video of the crash and the 48 Hours segment on the Princess Diana crash we found an interesting summation of some of the conspiracy theories with explanations and references.
    For those of you still wish to believe and repeat conspiracy theories, I'd recommend a careful read of this thread:
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    Re: Princess Diana Crash Reconstruction

    Post by MSI »

    Added to initial thread some subject specific links to the 48 Hours video
    For task specific portions of the video see the following links:
    • (NOTE: Edited Feb 2023 removed Tail Light Investigation section)
    Time on VideoLink to place in Video on Topic
    @0:30Dan Rather Introduction
    @0:76Start of Brian McHenry Interview
    @1:50Start of Casey Herbert Interview
    @2:18The Witnesses are the Car
    @2:54Start of Murray Mackay Interview
    @4:03Lack of Evidence of motorcycles in proximity
    @4:28Summary of McHenry Crash Investigation Findings
    @5:50Lack of Seat Belt Use
    @6:19Summary by Murray Mackay

    An Archived write-up on the work by NBC called "Recreating the Crash":
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    Re: Princess Diana Crash Reconstruction

    Post by MSI »

    The following is a comment to the 3D Crash Reconstruction:
    COMMENT: In your simulation only the front is damage, however, in the pictures almost all doors are damaged

    Our Response:
    That is incorrect
    • Please see the collection of photos below from the web.
      • Our file from 1998 on the case for 48 Hours/CBS News included more detailed photos of the vehicles and NO collision related damage to the doors
    There was a minor white scrape from the Uno interaction (see red circle and arrow below, right top)
    • However there is NO contact damage to the doors.
    • They did have induced damage. There was no other scraping or contact damage to any other part of the vehicle.
    damage2.png
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    right side of vehicle.jpg
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