[Vocabulary] question about died/killed

[ThomasGates]

Hi,
I would like to ask about the differences in meaning of two sentences below. Could someone confirm that the meaning is the same?
1)… were killed in a plane crash ….
2).. died in plane crash …
In my opinion “.. were killed ..” suggest that somebody helps to die. Is it true ?
Regards
Thomas

 

[emsr2d2]

Hi,
I would like to ask about the differences in meaning of two sentences below. Could someone confirm that the meaning is the same?
1)… were killed in a plane crash ….
2).. died in plane crash …
In my opinion “.. were killed ..” suggest that somebody helps to die. Is it true ?
Regards
Thomas

The two sentences mean the same thing. After all, "something" helped them to die - the plane crash. The plane crash was the cause of death. If "someone" actually killed them, then it would be "...were killed by..."

Different prepositions give different meanings:

They were killed in a plane crash = they died when their plane crashed.
They were killed by a crazy gunman = the gunman killed them
They were killed with a rifle = someone used a rifle to kill them