Section 247. Examination of wrecked aircraft before destruction or removal

When an aircraft falls or lands in a wrecked condition or is wrecked  by
  the  fall  or  in  landing and an occupant thereof is killed or severely
  injured thereby or escapes death or injury by the use  of  a  parachute,
  neither  such  aircraft nor any part of it shall be destroyed or removed
  before the  expiration  of  twenty-four  hours  thereafter  without  the
  permission  of  an  inspector  of  the  federal  aviation  agency  or an
  investigator of the civil aeronautics board or a  member  of  the  state
  police  or  of a sheriff or regular deputy sheriff; and if, before it is
  destroyed or removed, such an inspector or member of the state police or
  sheriff or deputy sheriff shall appear at the scene of the wreck for the
  purpose of examining the aircraft it shall not be destroyed  or  removed
  until the examination is completed provided the examination be completed
  within  forty-eight  hours of the time that the aircraft fell or landed.
  This section shall not prevent or postpone the destruction or removal of
  a wrecked aircraft lying in a public street or  highway  in  a  position
  that causes a blockade of traffic, or lying in a navigable waterway in a
  position that impedes or imperils navigation, or which lands or falls on
  a building or structure, or in a case where the immediate destruction or
  removal  of  the aircraft is necessary to prevent injury to persons; but
  such necessity in the case last mentioned, shall be a matter of  defense
  in  any  prosecution  for  a  violation  of  this  section. A person who
  destroys or removes, or causes to be destroyed  or  removed,  a  wrecked
  aircraft  in  violation of the provisions of this section is guilty of a
  misdemeanor.