Copycats in Pilot Aircraft-Assisted Suicides

Copycats in Pilot Aircraft-Assisted Suicides After the Germanwings Incident

Citation: Laukkala T, Vuorio A, Bor R, Budowle B, Navathe P, Pukkala E, Sajantila A. Copycats in Pilot Aircraft-Assisted Suicides After the Germanwings Incident. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2018;15(3):491.

This article investigates whether the 2015 Germanwings crash, a high-profile pilot suicide, led to an increase in similar aircraft-assisted suicides. The authors analyzed fatal aviation accident data from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board and the German BFU for five years before and two years after the Germanwings incident. In the U.S., the relative risk of such suicides in the two years after the incident was 1.4 (95% CI 0.3–4.2), which is not significant and considered within normal variation. No cases were identified in Germany during the same periods. The study also notes that several pilots who died by suicide had previously disclosed suicidal intentions to others, highlighting the importance of early identification and intervention.