Analysis of NTSB Aircraft-Assisted Pilot Suicides: 1982-2014.

On March 24, 2015, a Germanwings aircraft crashed in the Alps. The suicidal copilot killed himself and 150 others. Pilot suicide is rare, but does happen. This research analyzed the National Transportation Safety Board's accident database (eADMS) looking for pilots who died by suicide in flight. Fifty-one suicides were identified. Gender, age, and other characteristics were examined. Average age of suicidal pilots was 38, significantly different from the average age of 45 for all male pilots involved in aircraft accidents. A discriminant function accurately identified suicidal incidents at 96%. There was a high false-positive rate limiting the usefulness of the discriminant function.

[1]  M. Ghahramanlou-Holloway,et al.  Marital Status, Life Stressor Precipitants, and Communications of Distress and Suicide Intent in a Sample of United States Air Force Suicide Decedents , 2013, Archives of suicide research : official journal of the International Academy for Suicide Research.

[2]  J. Donovan,et al.  Suicide communication events: lay interpretation of the communication of suicidal ideation and intent. , 2012, Social science & medicine.

[3]  C. Cox,et al.  Method choice, intent, and gender in completed suicide. , 2000, Suicide & life-threatening behavior.

[4]  Vitaly S. Guzhva,et al.  Impact of gender, age and experience of pilots on general aviation accidents. , 2011, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[5]  T. Joiner,et al.  The modal suicide decedent did not consume alcohol just prior to the time of death: An analysis with implications for understanding suicidal behavior. , 2014, Journal of abnormal psychology.

[6]  S. Canetto,et al.  The gender paradox in suicide. , 1998, Suicide & life-threatening behavior.

[7]  Guohua Li,et al.  Suicide by aircraft: a comparative analysis. , 2005, Aviation, space, and environmental medicine.

[8]  Karsten H Severin,et al.  "I am flying to the stars"--suicide by aircraft in Germany. , 2008, Forensic science international.

[9]  Bruce Budowle,et al.  Aircraft-Assisted Pilot Suicides: Lessons to be Learned. , 2014, Aviation, space, and environmental medicine.

[10]  R. Bor,et al.  The mental health of pilots: An overview , 2002 .

[11]  Mark S. Davis,et al.  Gender and Suicide Method: Do Women Avoid Facial Disfiguration? , 2011 .

[12]  R. Fowler,et al.  Some differences between men and women who commit suicide. , 1988, The American journal of psychiatry.