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Copycats in Pilot Aircraft-Assisted Suicides after the Germanwings Incident

Author

Listed:
  • Tanja Laukkala

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

  • Alpo Vuorio

    (Department of Forensic Medicine, University of Helsinki and Mehiläinen Airport Health Centre, Lentäjäntie 1 E, 01530 Vantaa, Finland
    These authors contribute equally to this work)

  • 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
    Center of Excellence in Genomic Medicine Research (CEGMR), King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21577, Saudi Arabia)

  • Pooshan Navathe

    (The Maitland Hospital, Maitland 2320, Australia)

  • Eero Pukkala

    (Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Tampere, 33100 Tampere, Finland)

  • Antti Sajantila

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

Abstract

Aircraft-assisted pilot suicide is a rare but serious phenomenon. The aim of this study was to evaluate changes in pilot aircraft-assisted suicide risks, i.e., a copycat effect, in the U.S. and Germany after the Germanwings 2015 incident in the French Alps. Aircraft-assisted pilot suicides were searched in the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) accident investigation database and in the German Bundestelle für Flugunfalluntersuchung (BFU) Reports of Investigation database five years before and two years after the deliberate crash of the Germanwings flight into the French Alps in 2015. The relative risk (RR) of the aircraft-assisted pilot suicides was calculated. Two years after the incident, three out of 454 (0.66%) fatal incidents were aircraft-assisted suicides compared with six out of 1292 (0.46%) in the prior five years in the NTSB database. There were no aircraft-assisted pilot suicides in the German database during the two years after or five years prior to the Germanwings crash. The relative aircraft-assisted pilot suicide risk for the U.S. was 1.4 (95% CI 0.3–4.2) which was not statistically significant. Six of the pilots who died by suicide had told someone of their suicidal intentions. We consider changes in the rate to be within a normal variation. Responsible media coverage of aircraft incidents is important due to the large amount of publicity that these events attract.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:15:y:2018:i:3:p:491-:d:135745
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    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. Niederkrotenthaler, Thomas & Till, Benedikt & Kapusta, Nestor D. & Voracek, Martin & Dervic, Kanita & Sonneck, Gernot, 2009. "Copycat effects after media reports on suicide: A population-based ecologic study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 69(7), pages 1085-1090, October.
    3. David S Fink & Julian Santaella-Tenorio & Katherine M Keyes, 2018. "Increase in suicides the months after the death of Robin Williams in the US," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(2), pages 1-12, February.
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    Cited by:

    1. 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.
    2. Merike Sisask & Kairi Kõlves, 2018. "Towards a Greater Understanding of Suicidal Behaviour and Its Prevention," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-8, August.

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