Suicide by pilot
{{Short description|Aviation disaster in which a pilot intentionally crashes the aircraft}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2017}}
File:Airbus 320-Germanwings D-AIPX 2014-06-08 retouched.jpg, operating as Germanwings Flight 9525, was deliberately crashed into the Alps by a suicidal co-pilot on March 24, 2015, killing all 150 people on board.]]
File:Explosion following the plane impact into the South Tower (WTC 2) - B6019~11.jpg was hijacked by Al-Qaeda terrorists, leading to it being deliberately crashed into 2 World Trade Center as part of the September 11 attacks.]]
Suicide by pilot is an aviation event in which a pilot deliberately crashes or attempts to crash an aircraft as a suicide act, with or without the intention of causing harm to passengers on board or people on the ground. If others are killed, it may be considered a type of murder–suicide.Charles Bremner (Paris), March 26, 2015, The Times, [https://www.thetimes.com/article/locked-door-boosts-pilot-suicide-theory-562wqm5lnx3 Locked door boosts pilot suicide theory] . Retrieved March 26, 2015 It is suspected to have been a possible cause in several commercial flight crashes and has been confirmed as the cause in other instances. Determining the motives of pilots can be challenging for crash investigators, as pilots may intentionally disable recording devices or engage in other actions to impede future investigations.Richard Lloyd Parry, December 16, 2000, The Independent, [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/singaporean-air-crash-that-killed-104-was-suicide-by-pilot-say-investigators-627579.html "Singaporean air crash that killed 104 was suicide by pilot, say investigators"] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925184711/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/singaporean-air-crash-that-killed-104-was-suicide-by-pilot-say-investigators-627579.html |date=September 25, 2015 }}. Retrieved March 26, 2015, "...An airliner which crashed into an Indonesian swamp, killing all 198people on board, was an apparent suicide attempt by the pilot, ... the cockpit voice and data recorders had been switched off half a minute before the aircraft began its descent." Consequently, definitively proving pilot suicide can be difficult.{{cite news |last1=Young |first1=Toby |title=Could a four-year-old thriller unlock the mystery of flight MH370? |url=https://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/tobyyoung/100263838/could-a-four-year-old-thriller-hold-the-key-to-unlocking-the-mystery-of-malaysian-airlines-flight-370/ |access-date=26 March 2015 |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=16 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304110225/http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/tobyyoung/100263838/could-a-four-year-old-thriller-hold-the-key-to-unlocking-the-mystery-of-malaysian-airlines-flight-370/ |archive-date=4 March 2016 |quote=...If this was a case of "suicide-by-pilot", why do we still know so little about the motive? ... |url-status=dead}}March 31, 2014, The Guardian, [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/31/mh370-pilot-last-words-malaysia-airlines-plane MH370: authorities release new account of pilot's final words: Malaysia's civil aviation authority say pilot's final words heard by air traffic control were 'goodnight Malaysian three seven zero'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170410220650/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/31/mh370-pilot-last-words-malaysia-airlines-plane |date=April 10, 2017 }}. Retrieved March 26, 2015, "...Malaysia says the plane, which disappeared less than an hour into its flight, was likely to have been diverted deliberately far off course. Investigators have determined no apparent motive or other red flags among the 227 passengers or the 12 crew. ..."
Investigators do not classify aircraft incidents as suicides unless there is compelling evidence indicating that the pilot intended suicide. This evidence may include suicide notes, past suicide attempts, explicit threats of suicide, or a documented history of mental illness. A study conducted on pilot suicides between 2002 and 2013 identified eight cases as definite suicides, along with five additional cases of undetermined cause that may have been suicides.{{Cite journal|url = http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/51000/51100/51188/201402.pdf|title = Aircraft-Assisted Pilot Suicides in the United States, 2003-2012|last1 = Lewis|first1 = Russell|date = February 2014|access-date = March 29, 2015|last2 = Forster|first2 = Estrella|last3 = Whinnery|first3 = James|last4 = Webster|first4 = Nicholas|publisher = Federal Aviation Administration|department = Civil Aerospace Medical Institute|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150403234302/http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/51000/51100/51188/201402.pdf|archive-date = April 3, 2015|url-status = live|df = mdy-all|journal=NTL.BTS.gov}} In some cases, investigators may collaborate with terrorism experts to investigate potential connections to extremist groups, aiming to ascertain whether the suicide was an act of terrorism.March 2015, The Independent, [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/germanwings-crash-suicide-and-mass-murder-by-copilot-10135713.html ... Co-pilot of crashed Germanwings flight 9525 'wanted to destroy plane in suicide and mass murder mission'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925190440/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/germanwings-crash-suicide-and-mass-murder-by-copilot-10135713.html |date=September 25, 2015 }}Jane Onyanga-Omara, January 19, 2015, USA Today, [https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2015/01/19/no-evidence-terrorism-airasia/21988747/ No evidence of terrorism in AirAsia crash] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170821085510/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2015/01/19/no-evidence-terrorism-airasia/21988747/ |date=August 21, 2017 }}. Retrieved March 27, 2015, "...Investigators have found no evidence so far that terrorism was involved in the crash of AirAsia Flight 8501, ..."March 27, 2014, The New Zealand Herald, [http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11227090 Flight MH370: Terrorism expert backs theory of pilot suicide flight] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150222021816/http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11227090 |date=February 22, 2015 }}. Retrieved March 27, 2015, "...University of Canterbury Professor Greg Newbold, who lectures on terrorism, said the only person who could have changed MH370's computerised flight plan and switched off its electronics was someone who was highly experienced...."
A Bloomberg News study conducted in June 2022, focusing on crashes involving Western-built commercial airliners, revealed that pilot murder-suicides ranked as the second most prevalent cause of airline crash deaths between 2011 and 2020. Additionally, the study found that deaths resulting from pilot murder-suicides increased over the period from 1991 to 2020, while fatalities due to accidental causes significantly decreased. However, most cases of suicide by pilot involve general aviation in small aircraft, where typically the pilot is the sole occupant of the aircraft. In approximately half of these cases, the pilot had consumed drugs, often alcohol or antidepressants, which would typically result in a ban on flying. Many of these pilots have concealed their mental illness histories from regulators.
World War II suicide attacks
{{main|Kamikaze}}
File:USS Bunker Hill hit by two Kamikazes.jpg
During World War II, the Russian aviator Nikolai Gastello was the first Soviet pilot credited with a (later disputed) "fire taran" in a suicide attack by an aircraft on a ground target, although his aircraft had been shot down and was in a rapid partially controllable descent.{{cite web|url=http://www.airwar.ru/history/aces/ace2ww/pilots/gastello.html|title=Гастелло Николай Францевич|access-date=March 30, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150317120754/http://airwar.ru/history/aces/ace2ww/pilots/gastello.html|archive-date=March 17, 2015|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}} Another early example took place during the attack on Pearl Harbor where First Lieutenant Fusata Iida told his men before taking off, that if his aircraft were to become badly damaged he would crash it into a "worthy enemy target".Axell, p. 44.
In the following years there were more suicide attacks; the best known by military aviators are the attacks from the Empire of Japan, called kamikaze, against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II. These attacks were designed to destroy warships more effectively than was possible with conventional attacks; between {{dts|1944-10}} and {{dts|1945}}, 3,860 kamikaze pilots committed suicide in this manner.{{cite book|last=Zaloga|first=Steve|title=Kamikaze: Japanese Special Attack Weapons 1944-45|date=June 21, 2011|page=12|publisher=Bloomsbury USA |isbn=9781849083539|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E95PKAJWMiAC&pg=PA12|access-date=September 26, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140704171843/http://books.google.com/books?id=E95PKAJWMiAC&pg=PA12|archive-date=July 4, 2014|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}
List of declared or suspected pilot suicides
This list excludes World War II suicide attacks on ground and naval targets (see section above).
Legend:
| class="wikitable"
|style="background:red;"| |Confirmed suicide |
| style="background:orange;"|
|Believed to be suicide |
| style="background:green;"|
|Possible suicide |
|---|
| |Attempted suicide halted |
=By pilots in control of whole flight=
=By hijackers=
| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size: 100%; width:100%; text-align: left" | |
| colspan=2|Crash date
! Attacker ! Flight Type ! Flight ! Fatalities ! Theories ! Aircraft ! class="unsortable" | Refs | |
|---|---|
| style="background:red"|
| {{dts|1964-5-7}} | Passenger |Commercial flight | Pacific Air Lines Flight 773
|{{sort|0044|44}} |Francisco Paula Gonzales, a depressed man in debt, shot both pilots before shooting himself, causing the plane to crash. All 44 people on board died. |
| | {{dts|1970-03-17}}
| Passenger |Commercial flight | Eastern Air Lines Shuttle Flight 1320
|{{sort|0001|1}} |Passenger John J. Divivo shot both pilots, but the first officer took Divivo's gun and shot him before succumbing to his own wounds. Despite gunshot wounds in both arms, the captain landed the aircraft safely. Divivo subsequently hanged himself while awaiting trial. |{{ASN accident|id=19700317-0|type=Hijacking}}[http://www.celebrateboston.com/disasters/eastern-airlines-hijacking-1970.htm Eastern Airlines Hijacking] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20130118225732/http://www.celebrateboston.com/disasters/eastern-airlines-hijacking-1970.htm |date=January 18, 2013 }} at CelebrateBoston.com |
| | {{dts|1974-2-22}}
| Terrorist hijacker |Commercial flight | Delta Air Lines Flight 523
|{{sort|0003|3}} |Samuel Byck intended to crash into the White House in the hope of killing U.S. President Richard Nixon. He killed a police officer and hijacked the aircraft, but the aircraft never left the gate. Byck shot the co-pilot before being wounded by police in a shootout and committing suicide. | |
| style="background:red"|
| {{dts|1987-12-07}} | Former employee | Commercial flight | Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 1771
|{{sort|0043|43}} |The plane was hijacked by David A. Burke, a disgruntled former employee of USAir, who is believed to have shot his former boss, both pilots, a flight attendant and the chief pilot of Pacific Southwest Airlines before crashing the plane near Cayucos, California, United States. |
| | {{dts|1988-09-29}}
| Passenger | Commercial flight | VASP Flight 375
| 1 (co-pilot) | The plane suffered a hijack attempt by Raimundo Nonato Alves da Conceição, who planned to attack the Planalto Palace and kill the then Brazilian President José Sarney. He was stopped by the commander Fernando Murilo de Lima e Silva, but killed the co-pilot Salvador Evangelista. |
| | {{dts|1994-04-07}}
| Employee and off duty pilot | Commercial flight | Federal Express Flight 705
|{{sort|0000|0}} |Deadheading Federal Express pilot Auburn Calloway smuggled weapons aboard and attempted to hijack the cargo jet and crash it in an insurance fraud scheme for his family's benefit. Despite severe injuries inflicted by Calloway, the crew subdued him using a number of techniques including high-speed aerobatic maneuvers, and landed safely. |
| |{{dts|1994-12-24}}
| Terrorist hijackers | Commercial flight | Air France Flight 8969
|{{sort|0007|7}} |After having killed three passengers, the hijackers intended to crash the aircraft into the Eiffel Tower in Paris. When the aircraft reached Marseille, a counterterror unit of the French National Gendarmerie (GIGN) raided the aircraft and killed all four hijackers. |{{cite web |author = Peter Taylor|title = The Paris Plot|work = Age of Terror|url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/documentaries/2008/05/080617_age_of_terror_three.shtml|publisher = BBC World Service|date = June 18, 2008|quote = The plan foreshadows Osama bin Ladin's holy war on the West. Seven years before 9/11, the hijackers were planning to fly to Paris and crash the aircraft with over 200 passengers on board into the heart of the city.|access-date = February 14, 2009|author-link = Peter Taylor (journalist)|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090201105708/http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/documentaries/2008/05/080617_age_of_terror_three.shtml|archive-date = February 1, 2009 |url-status = live}} |
| style="background:red" |
| {{dts|2001-9-11}} | Terrorist hijackers | Commercial flight | American Airlines Flight 11
|{{sort|1390|1,390}} |Aircraft hijacked and crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center by hijackers as part of the September 11, 2001 attacks. |
| style="background:red"|
| {{dts|2001-9-11}} | Terrorist hijackers | Commercial flight | United Airlines Flight 175
|{{sort|1363|1,363}} |Aircraft hijacked and crashed into the South Tower of the World Trade Center by hijackers as part of September 11, 2001 attacks. |
| style="background:red"|
| {{dts|2001-9-11}} | Terrorist hijackers | Commercial flight | American Airlines Flight 77
|{{sort|189|189}} |Aircraft hijacked and crashed into the Pentagon by hijackers as part of September 11, 2001 attacks. |
| style="background:red"|
| {{dts|2001-9-11}} | Terrorist hijackers | Commercial flight | United Airlines Flight 93
|{{sort|0044|44}} |Aircraft hijacked as part of September 11, 2001 attacks. Passengers revolted against the hijackers, resulting in the jet crashing in Stonycreek Township, Pennsylvania. Although all aboard died, the passengers prevented the hijackers from reaching their target, thought to be the White House or the Capitol Building. |
| | {{dts|2021-07-07}}
| Passenger | Commercial flight | Ryan Air Services flight
| {{sort|0000|0}} | A passenger grabbed the controls of a Cessna 208 Caravan on approach to Aniak Airport and placed the aircraft in a dive. He was restrained by other passengers and the pilot regained control and landed safely. The hijacker was arrested by Alaska State Troopers and admitted that the incident was an attempted murder-suicide. | | {{cite news |last=Williams |first=Tess |date=2021-07-08 |title=Bethel 18-year-old told troopers he was suicidal when he grabbed controls of plane near Aniak, sending it into nosedive |url=https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/crime-courts/2021/07/08/bethel-18-year-old-trying-to-hijack-commercial-flight-causes-nosedive-near-aniak-troopers-say/ |work=Anchorage Daily News |location=Anchorage, Alaska |url-access=limited |access-date=2021-07-14 |archive-date=December 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211225074400/https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/crime-courts/2021/07/08/bethel-18-year-old-trying-to-hijack-commercial-flight-causes-nosedive-near-aniak-troopers-say/ |url-status=live }}{{cite press release |author= |title=AK21076117 Terroristic Threatening / Attempted Assault Investigation |url=https://dailydispatch.dps.alaska.gov/Home/DisplayIncident?incidentNumber=AK21076117 |agency=Alaska Department of Public Safety, State Troppers Public Information Office |date=2021-07-07 |access-date=2021-07-14 |archive-date=July 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210714143839/https://dailydispatch.dps.alaska.gov/Home/DisplayIncident?incidentNumber=AK21076117 |url-status=live }} |
| |{{dts|2023-10-22|abbr=on}}
| Employee and off duty pilot | {{nowrap|Commercial{{br}}flight}}
| {{sort|0000|0}} |Deadheading pilot attempted to turn off engines. The flight was forced to divert at Portland International Airport, pilot later arrested and charged. |{{cite web|title=3 passengers sue Alaska Airlines after off-duty pilot accused of trying to cut engines mid-flight|website=CBS News |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/3-passengers-sue-alaska-airlines-after-off-duty-pilot-joseph-emerson-accused-of-trying-to-cut-engines-mid-flight/}} |
Published studies
A 2016 study published in Aerospace Medicine and Human Performance analyzed suicide and homicide-suicide events involving aircraft. They state, "In aeromedical literature and in the media, these very different events are both described as pilot suicide, but in psychiatry they are considered separate events with distinct risk factors." In the years 1999–2015 the study found 65 cases of pilot suicide (compared to 195 pilot errors) and six cases of passengers who jumped from aircraft. There were 18 cases of homicide-suicide, totaling 732 deaths; of these events, 13 were perpetrated by pilots. Compared to non-aviation samples, a large percentage of pilot suicides in this study were homicide-suicides (17%).{{cite journal |last1=Kenedi |first1=Christopher |last2=Friedman |first2=Susan Hatters |last3=Watson |first3=Dougal |last4=Preitner |first4=Claude |title=Suicide and Murder-Suicide Involving Aircraft |journal=Aerospace Medicine and Human Performance |volume=87 |number=4 |date=April 2016 |pages= 388–396 |publisher=Aerospace Medical Association |doi=10.3357/AMHP.4474.2016|pmid=27026123 }}{{inconsistent|17%*65 = 11≠13}}
Prevention
U.S. regulations require at least two flight crew members to be in the cockpit at all times for safety reasons, to be able to help in any medical or other emergency, including intervening if a crew member tries to crash the plane.[https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/27/opinion/reducing-risks-after-the-germanwings-crash.html Reducing Risks After the Germanwings Crash] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170821050520/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/27/opinion/reducing-risks-after-the-germanwings-crash.html |date=August 21, 2017 }} (New York Times, March 26, 2015)[https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/03/germanwings-crash-murder-suicide-pilot/388778/ Could the Germanwings Crash Have Been Avoided?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161203233212/http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/03/germanwings-crash-murder-suicide-pilot/388778/ |date=December 3, 2016 }} (The Atlantic, March 26, 2015) Following the deliberate crash of Germanwings Flight 9525 on March 24, 2015, some European, Canadian and Japanese airlines adopted a two-in-cockpit policy[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/26/germanwings-crash-prompts-airlines-to-introduce-cockpit-rule-of-two Germanwings crash prompts airlines to introduce cockpit ‘rule of two’] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170220094636/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/26/germanwings-crash-prompts-airlines-to-introduce-cockpit-rule-of-two |date=February 20, 2017 }} (The Guardian, March 26, 2015)[https://www.vox.com/2015/3/26/8294971/pilot-suicide-crash The disturbing history of pilots who deliberately crash their own planes] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170821045533/https://www.vox.com/2015/3/26/8294971/pilot-suicide-crash |date=August 21, 2017 }} (Vox, March 26, 2015) as did all Australian airlines for aircraft with 50 or more passenger seats.[http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-03-30/federal-government-announces-new-cockpit-safety-standards/6358474 Germanwings: Australia tightens cockpit safety laws in wake of French Alps plane crash] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150330233012/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-03-30/federal-government-announces-new-cockpit-safety-standards/6358474 |date=March 30, 2015 }} (Australian Broadcasting Corporation News, March 30, 2015)
See also
- Aviation accidents and incidents
- Aviation safety
- List of aircraft hijackings, for instances where a hijacker crashed the aircraft
- Vehicle ramming attack
- Mental health in aviation
- Suicide by cop
- John Verrept, the first person in history to commit suicide with a plane
References
{{Reflist|2}}
External links
- [http://edition.cnn.com/2015/03/26/travel/germanwings-crash-death-by-pilot-cases/ Deliberate acts: 5 cases of pilots intentionally crashing] at cnn.com
- [http://news.aviation-safety.net/2015/03/26/list-of-aircraft-accidents-and-incidents-deliberately-caused-by-pilots/ List of aircraft accidents and incidents intentionally caused by pilots] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220108233146/http://news.aviation-safety.net/2015/03/26/list-of-aircraft-accidents-and-incidents-deliberately-caused-by-pilots/ |date=January 8, 2022 }} at aviation-safety.net
- [http://www.canberratimes.com.au/comment/pilot-suicide-cases-few-and-far-between-20140408-zqs8w.html Pilot suicide cases few and far between] at canberratimes.com
{{Lists of aviation accidents and incidents}}
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