Suicide by pilot

Suicide by pilot is an aviation event in which a pilot deliberately crashes or attempts to crash an aircraft in a suicide attempt, sometimes to kill passengers on board or people on the ground. This is sometimes described as a murder–suicide.[1]

This Airbus A320, operating as Germanwings Flight 9525, was deliberately crashed into the Alps by a suicidal co-pilot on 24 March 2015, killing all 150 people on board.

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.[2][3] Following the deliberate crash of Germanwings Flight 9525 on March 24, 2015, some European, Canadian and Japanese airlines adopted a two-in-cockpit policy[4][5] as did all Australian airlines for aircraft with 50 or more passenger seats.[6]

References

  1. ↑ Charles Bremner (Paris), March 26, 2015, The Times, Locked door boosts pilot suicide theory Archived March 27, 2015, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved March 26, 2015
  2. ↑ Reducing Risks After the Germanwings Crash Archived August 21, 2017, at the Wayback Machine (New York Times, March 26, 2015)
  3. ↑ Could the Germanwings Crash Have Been Avoided? Archived December 3, 2016, at the Wayback Machine (The Atlantic, March 26, 2015)
  4. ↑ Germanwings crash prompts airlines to introduce cockpit ‘rule of two’ Archived February 20, 2017, at the Wayback Machine (The Guardian, March 26, 2015)
  5. ↑ The disturbing history of pilots who deliberately crash their own planes Archived August 21, 2017, at the Wayback Machine (Vox, March 26, 2015)
  6. ↑ Germanwings: Australia tightens cockpit safety laws in wake of French Alps plane crash Archived March 30, 2015, at the Wayback Machine (Australian Broadcasting Corporation News, March 30, 2015)