Pilot suicide

This article is about suicide. For those at risk, there is a wide network of offers of help in which ways out are shown. In acute emergencies, the telephone counseling and the European emergency number 112 can be reached continuously and free of charge. After an initial crisis intervention , qualified referrals can be made to suitable counseling centers on request.

A pilot suicide is a suicide in which the pilot deliberately causes an aircraft accident in order to kill himself. Most suicides were carried out using smaller general aviation aircraft, but there are also known cases in which manned passenger planes were deliberately crashed, thereby killing air travelers. Such cases are sometimes referred to as extended suicide or takeout suicide . In journalism, in analogy to the rampage , the term "rampage" is used.

background

Suicidal behavior by a pilot during the flight can cause serious personal injury and property damage in addition to the intended death of himself. Both aircraft and passengers and crew as well as people, buildings and other things on the ground can be affected. The desire to commit suicide can be caused by a mental illness, whereby in this scenario, in addition to depression , ( narcissistic ) personality disorders and an extreme degree of lack of empathy play a role. In the case of some pilot suicides, the pursuit of a “big exit” was discussed as a motive.

Demarcation

Suicides can be distinguished from terrorist attacks by the objectives of the agent. In the case of terrorist attacks, a higher political goal is to be achieved, while in the case of a suicide the person concerned gets into a subjectively hopeless situation and acts out of this. Both are listed in the official categorization of aircraft accidents in the Security Related category.

statistics

A February 2014 study by the Civil Aerospace Medical Institute in Oklahoma found that between 2003 and 2012, a total of 8 out of 2,758 general aviation fatalities in the United States were caused by pilot suicide. This corresponds to a share of 0.29%. The frequency of pilot suicide reported in this study is presumably lower than the actual value, since in the study an aircraft accident was only classified as a pilot suicide if conclusive evidence such as farewell letters or corresponding statements by the pilot were available. Unclear flight accidents, in which, however, a pilot suicide was suspected as one of the possible causes, were not recorded. The pilots were male, an average of 46 years old (most were between the ages of 26 and 58). Four out of eight pilots were drunk and two out of eight pilots were taking antidepressants ( SSRIs ). Five out of eight had previously announced their suicidal intent. Two were private pilots and six of the eight pilots were commercial pilots, one of whom was still in training. Most of them flew single-engine fan guns. In the years 1993 to 2003, the proportion of pilot suicides in aircraft accidents in general aviation resulting in death was 0.44% (16 of 3,648), in the years 1979 to 1989 the proportion was 0.17% (10 of 5929). Statistical data for the years 1990 to 1992 are not available.

In commercial aviation, there were eight aircraft accidents between 1980 and 2019 that are at least presumably attributable to pilot suicide:

• February 9, 1982: Japan Air Lines flight 350
• August 21, 1994: Royal Air Maroc Flight 630
• December 19, 1997: Silk Air Flight 185
• October 11, 1999: Air Botswana accident in 1999
• October 31, 1999: Egypt Air Flight 990
• November 29, 2013: Linhas Aéreas de Moçambique flight 470
• March 24, 2015: Germanwings flight 9525
• August 10, 2018: Theft and crash of a Horizon Air De Havilland DHC-8-400

In some cases, controversies arose in connection with the crash theories, since national aviation accident investigators contradicted the suicide thesis.

Only in the first of the eight cases did the pilot and other occupants of the machine survive. In two cases, the pilot was also the only occupant of the machine, which means that all other cases have the character of an extended suicide . These six pilots involved caused the death of a total of 562 passengers.

In connection with the unexplained disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 , numerous aviation experts assume a pilot suicide as the cause. This is justified with the established knowledge that the circumstances of the disappearance of the machine refer to deliberate action and extensive knowledge in the field of aircraft guidance ("rogue pilot theory"), which only a pilot can have.

See also

• Flight safety
• Shimpū Tokkōtai ( Kamikaze ), Japanese air attack tactics in World War II
• amok

Web links

• Deliberate acts: 5 cases of pilots intentionally crashing (English)
• List of aircraft accidents Caused by pilot suicide (English)
• List of aircraft accidents and incidents intentionally Caused by pilots (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Brad Plumer: The disturbing history of pilots who deliberately crash Their Own plan . In: Vox  . March 26, 2015.
2. ↑ Victim father reports Lubitz parents! | Could the amok flight have been prevented? In: BILD.de . ( bild.de ).
3. ↑ Flight 4U 9525: The rampage . In: Der Spiegel . No. 14 , 2015 ( online ).
4. ↑ Seiji Katagiri: The amok pilot who survived his own crash. In: The world . April 5, 2015, accessed on May 26, 2015 (The article uses the term “amok pilot”, but not “flight amok”). 
5. ↑ Hatred of tax authorities: pilot flies into office building. In: Berner Zeitung . Swiss Dispatch Agency , February 9, 2010, accessed on May 26, 2015 . 
6. ↑ Tages-Anzeiger
7. ↑ http://www.nachrichten.at/nachrichten/weltspiegel/Amokflug-aus-Wut-auf-Bush-Frau-und-Behoerde;art17,339542
8. ↑ Hamburger Morgenpost
9. ↑ ^{a b} Lewis, Russell; Forster, Estrella; Whinnery, James; Webster, Nicholas (February 2014). Aircraft-Assisted Pilot Suicides in the United States, 2003-2012 . Civil Aerospace Medical Institute. Federal Aviation Administration
10. ^ Germanwings: "He staged a triumphant exit" , Zeit Online, April 17, 2015
11. ↑ ICAO event categories , accessed May 6, 2015
12. ^ Aeromedical Aspects of Findings From Aircraft-Assisted Pilot Suicides in the United States 1993-2002. Retrieved May 6, 2015.
13. ↑ Interim Report of the BEA for German Wings Flight 9525 in May 2015, point 1.12.2 Previous events, p 26 f, accessed on May 6, 2015. -. German translation of the French original BEA.
14. ↑ Quotation from the BEA interim report on 4U9525: “After switching off the autopilot during the final approach at a height of 164 ft, the pilot pushed the control horn forward and pulled the throttle lever to idle. Then he pulled the thrust levers on engines 2 and 3 to the reverse idle position . As the aircraft's altitude decreased, the co-pilot tried to pull the control horn back. The co-pilot was unable to pull the aircraft nose up because the captain pushed the control horn forward with both hands. The aircraft crashed into the sea 510 m from the runway. The investigation showed that a mental problem was the cause of the pilot's actions. He had schizophrenia. "
15. ↑ Quote from the BEA interim report on 4U9525: “The captain switched off the autopilot and deliberately steered the aircraft directly into the ground. The co-pilot was in the cockpit, but could not counter the actions of the captain. "
16. ↑ ^{a b c} Note: cf. Weblinks, article on this in en-Wikipedia: en: Royal Air Maroc Flight 630 , en: SilkAir Flight 185 , en: 1999 Air Botswana incident
17. ↑ Quote from the BEA interim report on 4U9525: “While the aircraft was cruising at 35,000 ft, the flight data recorders stopped the recording one after the other. Suddenly the plane began to sink. No emergency call (Mayday) was transmitted before or during the descent. The plane crashed into a river. The safety investigation could not identify any technical problems that could have explained the accident. "
18. ↑ Quotation from the BEA interim report on 4U9525: “The pilot, the only person on board, intentionally flew the aircraft into the ground due to a crash at Gaborone airfield. The validity of his license had been revoked for medical reasons. "
19. ↑ Quote from the BEA interim report on 4U9525: “The aircraft was cruising at flight level 330 with a crew consisting of a captain, co-pilot and relief co-pilot. The co-pilot left the cockpit and the relief co-pilot took his place in the right seat. Eight minutes later, the captain also left the cockpit; the relief co-pilot was left alone. The autopilot was turned off and the FDR recorded downward steering inputs. The plane sank. The engines were switched off. The captain came back into the cockpit and tried to regain control of the aircraft. The captain repeatedly asked the co-pilot to help him pull the aircraft back up ( Pull with me ), but the co-pilot's control inputs caused the elevator to continue to push the aircraft's nose down. The aircraft regained altitude before beginning to descend again. It hit the surface of the ocean. The reasons that prompted the copilot to take these actions could not be clarified. "
20. ↑ Quoting from the BEA interim report on 4U9525: “The aircraft was cruising at flight level 380 when the captain left the cockpit to go to the toilet; the copilot was left alone. Different heights were set three times in order to use the autopilot to force the aircraft to descend to the ground. The CVR (note: Cockpit Voice Recorder) showed acoustic warnings and noises of repeated knocking and shouting, which correspond to attempts to get into the cockpit. "
21. ↑ Accident to the Airbus A320-211, registered D-AIPX and operated by Germanwings, flight GWI18G, on 03/24/15 at Prads-Haute-Bléone. In: www.bea.aero. BEA, February 29, 2016, accessed March 2, 2016 . 
22. ^ Report on the Germanwings crash: Investigators for stricter control of pilots. Tagesschau.de, March 13, 2016 (accessed March 13, 2016).
23. ↑ Final report of the BEA on the accident on March 24, 2015 of the Airbus A320-211 from Germanwings with the registration D-AIPX and the call sign GWI18G on its scheduled flight 4U9525 from Barcelona to Düsseldorf. (PDF) BEA, March 13, 2016, accessed on April 4, 2016 : “Excerpt from the brief description: 'During the cruise phase of the flight involved in the accident, the copilot waited until he was alone in the cockpit. He then consciously changed the settings of the autopilot so that the aircraft went into descent. During the descent, he left the cockpit door locked, although he was asked to allow access via the keypad and the intercom. He did not respond to radio communications from civil and military air traffic control posts or the knock on the door. Since the cockpit door was designed to prevent unauthorized persons from entering the cockpit due to security requirements, it was impossible to get into the cockpit before the aircraft collided with the terrain of the French Alps. '" 
24. ↑ accident report DHC-8-400 N449QX , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on 26 February of 2019.
25. ↑ Till Fähnders: Flight MH370 - "It was the pilot". FAZ.NET, March 6, 2015, accessed on January 20, 2019 . 
26. ↑ Barbara Barkhausen: Did the MH370 pilot want to kill himself? Die Welt, August 29, 2014, accessed January 20, 2019 . 
27. ↑ Michael Forsythe, Keith Bradsher: To Explain Missing Malaysia Airlines Flight, 'Rogue Pilot' Seems Likeliest Theory. New York Times, March 5, 2015, accessed January 20, 2019 . 
28. ↑ MH370: 'Pilot Zaharie Shah Committed Suicide & Killed Everyone Else On Malaysia Airlines Flight'. Huffingtonpost, September 16, 2014, accessed January 20, 2019 . 
29. ^ Richard Westcott: Flight MH370: Could it have been suicide? BBC, March 6, 2015, accessed January 20, 2019 .