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Aircraft-Assisted Pilot Suicides in the General Aviation Increased for One-Year Period after 11 September 2001 Attack in the United States

Author

Listed:
  • Alpo Vuorio

    (Mehiläinen Airport Health Centre, 01530 Vantaa, Finland
    Department of Forensic Medicine, University of Helsinki, 00014 Helsinki, Finland
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Tanja Laukkala

    (Mehiläinen Kielotie Health Centre, 01300 Vantaa, Finland
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Ilkka Junttila

    (Faculty of Medicine and Life Sciences, University of Tampere, Finland and Fimlab Laboratories, 33014 Tampere, Finland)

  • Robert Bor

    (Royal Free Hospital, Pond Street, London NW3 2QG, UK
    Centre for Aviation Psychology, London NW3 1ND, UK)

  • Bruce Budowle

    (Center for Human Identification, University of North Texas Health Science Center, 3500 Camp, Bowie Blvd, Fort Worth, TX 76107, USA)

  • Eero Pukkala

    (Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Tampere, 33014 Tampere, Finland)

  • Pooshan Navathe

    (The Maitland Hospital, Maitland 2320, Australia)

  • Antti Sajantila

    (Department of Forensic Medicine, University of Helsinki, 00014 Helsinki, Finland)

Abstract

Pilot aircraft-assisted suicides (AAS) are rare, and there is limited understanding of copycat phenomenon among aviators. The aim of this study was to evaluate the possible effect the 11 September 2001, terrorist attacks had on pilot AASs in the U.S. Fatal aviation accidents in the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) database were searched using the following search words: “suicide”, “murder-suicide” and “homicide-suicide”. The timeline between 11 September 1996, and 11 September 2004, was analyzed. Only those accidents in which NTSB judged that the cause of the accident was suicide were included in the final analysis. The relative risk (RR) of the pilot AASs in all fatal accidents in the U.S. was calculated in order to compare the one, two, and three-year periods after the September 11 terrorist attacks with five years preceding the event. The RR of a fatal general aviation aircraft accident being due to pilot suicide was 3.68-fold (95% confidence interval 1.04–12.98) during the first year after 11 September 2001, but there was not a statistically significant increase in the later years. This study showed an association, albeit not determinate causal effect, of a very specific series of simultaneous terrorist murder-suicides with subsequent pilot AASs.

Suggested Citation

  • Alpo Vuorio & Tanja Laukkala & Ilkka Junttila & Robert Bor & Bruce Budowle & Eero Pukkala & Pooshan Navathe & Antti Sajantila, 2018. "Aircraft-Assisted Pilot Suicides in the General Aviation Increased for One-Year Period after 11 September 2001 Attack in the United States," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-10, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:15:y:2018:i:11:p:2525-:d:182114
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Knox, K.L. & Pflanz, S. & Talcott, G.W. & Campise, R.L. & Lavigne, J.E. & Bajorska, A. & Tu, X. & Caine, E.D., 2010. "The US air force suicide prevention program: Implications for public health policy," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 100(12), pages 2457-2463.
    2. Tanja Laukkala & Alpo Vuorio & Robert Bor & Bruce Budowle & Pooshan Navathe & Eero Pukkala & Antti Sajantila, 2018. "Copycats in Pilot Aircraft-Assisted Suicides after the Germanwings Incident," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-8, March.
    3. Merike Sisask & Airi Värnik, 2012. "Media Roles in Suicide Prevention: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-16, January.
    4. McKeown, R.E. & Cuffe, S.P. & Schulz, R.M., 2006. "US suicide rates by age group, 1970-2002: An examination of recent trends," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 96(10), pages 1744-1751.
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