Suicide by pilot

This American Airlines aircraft, American Airlines Flight 11, was deliberately crashed into the World Trade Center North Tower by hijackers on 11 September 2001, killing all 92 people on board, and about 1600 on the ground.

Suicide by pilot is an event in which a pilot deliberately crashes or attempts to crash an aircraft as a way to kill himself and sometimes passengers on board or people on the ground. This is sometimes described as a murder-suicide.[1] It is suspected as being a possible cause of the crashes of several commercial flights. Generally, it is difficult for crash investigators to determine the motives of the pilots, since they sometimes act deliberately to turn off recording devices or otherwise hinder future investigations.[2] As a result, pilot suicide can be difficult to prove with certainty.[3][4]

Investigators do not qualify aircraft incidents as suicide unless there is compelling evidence that the pilot was doing so. This evidence would include suicide notes, previous attempts, threats of suicide, or a history of mental illness. In a study of pilot suicides from 2002-2013, eight cases were identified as definite suicides, with five additional cases of undetermined cause that may have been suicides.[5]

Most cases of suicide by pilot involve general aviation in small aircraft. In most of these, the pilot is the only person on board the aircraft. In about half of the cases, the pilot was using drugs, usually alcohol or anti-depressants, that would ban them from flying. Many of these pilots had mental illness histories that they had hidden from regulators.[5]

When authorities examine such crashes, investigators check for links to extremist groups to try to make a determination about whether the crash was an act of terrorism.[6][7][8] Terrorism experts have been called in to investigate suspicious crashes, such as the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.[9]

World War II suicide attacks on a ground target

Main article: Kamikaze

During World War II, the Russian aviator Nikolai Gastello was the first Soviet pilot credited with a (later disputed) "fire taran", a suicide attack by an aircraft on a ground target.[10] In the following years there were more suicide attacks. The best known suicide attacks 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 were between October 1944 and 1945 in which 3,860 kamikaze pilots committed suicide.[11]

List of declared or suspected pilot suicides

This list excludes World War II suicide attacks on ground targets (see section above).

Legend :

Suicide
Believed to be suicide
Suicide is a possibility
Attack on aircraft stopped

By pilots in control of whole flight

Crash date Perpetrator Flight Type Flight Fatalities Theories Aircraft Refs
September 26, 1976 Pilot General aviation Aeroflot 12
(pilot, 11 on the ground)		 The pilot flew an Antonov An-2 from Novosibirsk-Severny Airport and crashed the aircraft into an apartment complex where his ex-wife lived. His ex-wife was not killed in the crash. [12]
January 5, 1977 Pilot General aviation Connellan air disaster 5
(pilot, 4 on the ground)		 A disgruntled former employee of Connellan Airways (Connair) flew a Beechcraft Baron into the Connair complex at the Alice Springs Airport, Northern Territory, Australia [13]
August 22, 1979 Pilot General aviation Stolen aircraft 4
(pilot, 3 on the ground)		 A 23-year-old aircraft mechanic working at Bogota El Dorado Airport stole a Hawker-Siddeley HS-748 and crashed it into a Bogota suburb. [14]
February 9, 1982 Pilot Commercial flight Japan Airlines Flight 350 24
 Pilot engaged number 2 and 3 engines' thrust-reversers in flight. The first officer and flight engineer were able to partially regain control. [15]
September 15, 1982 Pilot General aviation Bankstown Airport incident 1
 The pilot of a light aircraft committed suicide by deliberately crashing into airport in the City of Bankstown, New South Wales, Australia [16]
July 13, 1994 Pilot Military Stolen aircraft 1
 A Russian air force engineer stole the airplane at Kubinka air base outside Moscow. He circled the aircraft until it ran out of fuel and crashed. [17]
August 21, 1994 Pilot Commercial flight Royal Air Maroc Flight 630 44
 Crashed intentionally by pilot (disputed by flight union) [18]
[19]
September 12, 1994 Pilot General aviation Stolen aircraft 1
 Crashed intentionally by Frank Eugene Corder on the White House south lawn. [20]
April 2, 1997 Pilot Military Craig D. Button incident 1
 While on a training mission, Button flew off course and ceased radio contact. The jet crashed into a mountain in Colorado.
December 19, 1997 Pilot Commercial flight SilkAir Flight 185 104
 Crashed intentionally by pilot (disputed by Indonesian government) [21]
October 11, 1999 Pilot Stolen commercial aircraft 1999 Air Botswana incident 1
 Pilot commandeered and then crashed an Air Botswana aircraft into a group of aircraft at Sir Seretse Khama International Airport in Gaborone, Botswana [22]
October 31, 1999 First officer Commercial flight EgyptAir Flight 990 217
 After the captain left the cockpit, first officer crashed aircraft into ocean while repeatedly saying "I rely on God" in Arabic[23]
[24] (U.S. National Transportation Safety Board); mechanical failure (Egyptian air agency) (cause still disputed)		 [25]

[26]

January 5, 2002 Pilot General aviation 2002 Tampa airplane crash 1
(pilot, damaged an office) 		Crashed into Bank of America Plaza. Teen Charles J. Bishop credited and praised Osama bin Laden for 11 September 2001 attacks in suicide note [27]
April 18, 2002 Pilot General aviation 2002 Pirelli Tower airplane crash 3
(pilot, 2 inside the building) 		The aircraft crashed in the tower in Milan. Suicide is a possibility. [28]
February 18, 2010 Pilot General aviation 2010 Austin suicide attack 2
 Andrew Joseph Stack III deliberately crashed his single-engine Piper Dakota light aircraft into Building I of the Echelon office complex in Austin, Texas, United States. [29]
November 29, 2013 Pilot Commercial flight LAM Mozambique Airlines Flight 470 33
 The pilot intentionally crashed jet; the co-pilot was locked out of the cockpit, according to the voice recorder. [18]
March 8, 2014 Unknown Commercial flight Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 239
 The aircraft went missing for unknown reasons. Pilot suicide is one of many possibilities. [30]
[31]
March 24, 2015 First officer Commercial flight Germanwings Flight 9525 150
 The co-pilot locked the captain out of cockpit before deliberately crashing the plane into a mountain near Prads-Haute-Bléone, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, France. [32]

By hijackers

Crash date Attacker Flight Type Flight Fatalities Theories Aircraft Refs
May 7, 1964 Passenger Commercial flight Pacific Air Lines Flight 773 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. [33]
February 22, 1974 Shooter Commercial flight Delta Airlines Flight 523 3
(hijacker, co-pilot, police officer)		 Samuel Byck intended to crash into the White House in the hope of killing U.S. President Richard Nixon. He killed several people, hijacked the aircraft, but the aircraft never left the gate. [34]
December 7, 1987 Former employee Commercial flight Pacific Southwest Airlines flight 1771 43
(all, including 5 shot before impact)		 Hijacked by one of the passengers, a disgruntled former employee of USAir, who shot the crew and two other people to death before crashing the plane near Cayucos, California, United States. [35]
April 7, 1994 Employee Commercial flight Federal Express Flight 705 0
(4 injured)		 Hijacked by a deadheading Federal Express employee facing possible dismissal, with intend on crashing the plane in an insurance fraud scheme for his family. The crew fought off the hijacker using a number of techniques, including inverting the plane and flying at near-supersonic speed. [36]
December 24, 1994 Terrorist hijackers Commercial flight Air France Flight 8969 7
(all 4 hijackers, 3 passengers)		 After having killed three passengers, the hijackers had the intention of crashing the aircraft into the Eiffel Tower in Paris. When the aircraft reached Marseille a counterterror unit of the French National Gendarmerie (GIGN) killed all four hijackers. [37]
September 11, 2001 Terrorist hijackers Commercial flight American Airlines Flight 11 1692
(87 passengers and crew, 5 hijackers, about 1600 on the ground)		 Plane hijacked and crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center by hijackers as part of the September 11, 2001 attacks. [38]
September 11, 2001 Terrorist hijackers Commercial flight United Airlines Flight 175 965
(60 passengers and crew, 5 hijackers, about 900 on the ground)		 Aircraft hijacked and crashed into the South Tower of the World Trade Center by hijackers as part of the 11 September 2001 attacks. [38]
September 11, 2001 Terrorist hijackers Commercial flight American Airlines Flight 77 187
(57 passengers and crew, 5 hijackers, 125 on the ground)		 Aircraft hijacked and crashed into the Pentagon by hijackers as part of the 11 September 2001 attacks. [38]
September 11, 2001 Terrorist hijackers Commercial flight United Airlines Flight 93 44
(40 passengers and crew, 4 hijackers)		 Aircraft hijacked as part of the 11 September 2001 attacks.
Passengers revolted against the hijackers, and the plane crashed in Stonycreek Township, Pennsylvania. Although the plane crashed with the death of all aboard, the passengers prevented the hijackers from reaching their target for another attack (thought to be the White House or the Capitol Building).		 [38]

Published studies

In a 2016 study published in Aerospace Medicine and Human Performance, Kenedi et al. systematically review suicide and homicide-suicide events involving aircraft. They note that "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." The study reviews medical databases, internet search engines, and aviation safety databases and includes 65 cases of pilot suicide and 6 cases of passengers who jumped from aircraft. There are also 18 cases of homicide-suicide involving 732 deaths. Pilots perpetrated 13 homicide-suicide events. Compared to non-aviation samples, a large percentage of pilot suicides in this study were homicide-suicides (17%).[39]

Kenedi et al. note that homicide-suicide events occur only extremely rarely, but that their impact, in terms of the proportion of deaths, is significant when compared to deaths from accidents. They state: "There is evidence of clustering where pilot suicides occur after by media reports of suicide or homicide-suicide. Five of six homicide-suicide events by pilots of commercial airliners occurred after they were left alone in the cockpit. This, along with a sixth incident in which active intervention by a Japan Air crew saved 147 lives, suggests that having two flight members in the cockpit is potentially protective. No single factor was associated with the risk for suicide or homicide-suicide. Factors associated with both events included legal and financial crises, occupational conflict, mental illness, and relationship stressors. Drugs and/or alcohol played a role in almost half of suicides, but not in homicide-suicides."[39]

Prevention

US 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.[40][41]

Following the deliberate crash of Germanwings Flight 9525, on 24 March 2015, some European and Canadian airlines adopted a two-in-cockpit policy[42][43] as did all Australian airlines for aircraft with fifty or more passenger seats.[44]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Charles Bremner (Paris), 26 March 2015, The Times, Locked door boosts pilot suicide theory, Retrieved 26 March 2015
  2. ↑ RICHARD LLOYD PARRY, 16 December 2000, The Independent, Singaporean air crash that killed 104 was suicide by pilot, say investigators, Retrieved 26 March 2015, "...An airliner which crashed into an Indonesian swamp, killing all 104 people 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."
  3. ↑ Toby Young, 16 March 2014, The Telegraph, Could a four-year-old thriller unlock the mystery of flight MH370? , Retrieved 26 March 2015, "...If this was a case of "suicide-by-pilot", why do we still know so little about the motive? I..."
  4. ↑ 31 March 2014, The Guardian, 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', Retrieved 26 March 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. ..."
  5. 1 2 Lewis, Russell; Forster, Estrella; Whinnery, James; Webster, Nicholas (February 2014). "Aircraft-Assisted Pilot Suicides in the United States, 2003-2012" (PDF). Civil Aerospace Medical Institute. Federal Aviation Administration. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  6. ↑ Sara Noble, 26 March 2015, Independent Sentinel, Co-Pilot Deliberately Crashed Flight 9525, Retrieved 26 March 2015, "..., pictured above, deliberately killed himself and 154 other... deliberately put into a deliberate dive by the co-pilot before the crash....It’s not being called an act of terror or of suicide by pilot. It’s a different act of terror... had no obvious terror ties..."
  7. ↑ March 2015, The Independent, ... Co-pilot of crashed Germanwings flight 9525 'wanted to destroy plane in suicide and mass murder mission'
  8. ↑ Jane Onyanga-Omara, 19 January 2015, USA Today, No evidence of terrorism in AirAsia crash, Retrieved 27 March 2015, "...Investigators have found no evidence so far that terrorism was involved in the crash of AirAsia Flight 8501, ..."
  9. ↑ 27 March 2014, The New Zealand Herald, Flight MH370: Terrorism expert backs theory of pilot suicide flight, Retrieved 27 March 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...."
  10. ↑
  11. ↑ Zaloga, Steve. Kamikaze: Japanese Special Attack Weapons 1944-45. p. 12.
  12. ↑ "Criminal Occurrence Description 26 September 1976". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
  13. ↑ Kramer, Tarla. "The Silent Grief of Alice Springs". BushMag. Archived from the original on July 2008. Retrieved 20 November 2010.
  14. ↑ "Accident Description 22 August 1979". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
  15. ↑ Stokes, Henry Scott. "Cockpit Fight Reported on Jet That Crashed in Tokyo," The New York Times. 14 February 1982. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
  16. ↑ "VH-AEU. Douglas C-47-DL. c/n 6108. Badly damaged during crash of a suicidal pilot at Bankstown Airport". Retrieved 26 March 2015.
  17. ↑ "Accident Description 13 July 1994". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
  18. 1 2 2015,Aviation Safety News, List of aircraft accidents caused by pilot suicide, Retrieved 26 March 2015
  19. ↑ "Crash that killed 44 was pilot suicide." Associated Press at the Altus Times. Thursday 25 August 1994. p. 14. Retrieved on 5 November 2013.
  20. ↑ Stephen Labaton (13 September 1994). "CRASH AT THE WHITE HOUSE: THE DEFENSES; Pilot's Exploit Rattles White House Officials - New York Times". Query.nytimes.com. Retrieved 8 September 2008.
  21. ↑ "Pushed to the Limit". Mayday. Season 12. Episode 4. 24 August 2012.
  22. ↑ "World: Africa Suicide pilot destroys Air Botswana fleet". BBC News. 11 October 1999. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
  23. ↑ Erica Goode (27 March 2015). "Suicide by Plane Crash Is Rare but Not Without Precedent". The New York Times. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  24. ↑ Brad Plumer. "The disturbing history of pilots who deliberately crash their own planes". Vox.
  25. ↑ Ellison, Michael (9 June 2000). "US and Egypt split on fatal plane crash". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 May 2011.
  26. ↑ "Germanwings Plane Crash Investigation: Echoes of 1999 EgyptAir Disaster". The New York Times. 26 March 2015. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  27. ↑ "Police: Tampa pilot voiced support for bin Laden". CNN. 6 January 2002. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
  28. ↑ "Three dead as plane hits Milan's tallest building". CNN. 19 April 2002. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  29. ↑ Cronan, Carl (18 February 2010). "Echelon Building Destroyed in Plane Crash". GlobeSt.com. Retrieved 18 February 2010.
  30. ↑ Bradsher, Keith (10 March 2015). "Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 One Year Later: A Reporter’s Notebook". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
  31. ↑ Doug Saffir, 17 March 2014, Boston Globe, 9 (potentially) legitimate theories on the missing Malaysia Airlines flight, Retrieved 27 March 2015, "... Tragically, pilot suicide is one of them. ...Hijacking by Pirates or Terrorists"
  32. ↑ "Germanwings Plane Crash Investigation". NewYorkTimes.com. 3 April 2015. Retrieved 4 April 2015.
  33. ↑ Hijacking description at the Aviation Safety Network
  34. ↑ Hiskey, Daven (22 February 2012). "This Day in History: Samuel Byck Hijacks an Airliner with the Intent of Flying it into the White House to Kill President Nixon". Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  35. ↑ .
  36. ↑ 7 April 1994 - Fedex 705.
  37. ↑ Peter Taylor (18 June 2008). "The Paris Plot". Age of Terror. BBC World Service. Archived from the original on 1 February 2009. Retrieved 14 February 2009. 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.
  38. 1 2 3 4 "'We Have Some Planes'". National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States. July 2004. Archived from the original on 11 May 2008. Retrieved 25 May 2008.
  39. 1 2 Kenedi, Christopher; Friedman, Susan Hatters; Watson, Dougal; Preitner, Claude (April 2016). "Suicide and Murder-Suicide Involving Aircraft". Aerospace Medicine and Human Performance (Aerospace Medical Association) 87 (4): 388–396. doi:10.3357/AMHP.4474.2016.
  40. ↑ Reducing Risks After the Germanwings Crash (New York Times, 26 March 2015)
  41. ↑ Could the Germanwings Crash Have Been Avoided? (The Atlantic, 26 March 2015)
  42. ↑ Germanwings crash prompts airlines to introduce cockpit ‘rule of two’ (The Guardian, 26 March 2015)
  43. ↑ The disturbing history of pilots who deliberately crash their own planes (Vox, 26 March 2015)
  44. ↑ Germanwings: Australia tightens cockpit safety laws in wake of French Alps plane crash (Australian Broadcasting Corporation News, 30 March 2015)

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