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

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.

Typology of murder-suicides in Berlin according to a longitudinal study based on autopsy files

“…Another possible category is "murder-accidents", which might be implicated in, for example, deaths related to burnt out houses [22]. Further possible categories are "aircraft-assisted pilot suicides" [23][24][25][26][27][28] and "suicide bombings" [17,29], although whether these can be considered murder-suicides is controversial. We propose establishing the category of "consensual murder-suicides" [30] as a subcategory of murder-suicides to facilitate the analyses of those cases involving possible mutual agreement between the participants.…”

Strategies to Promote Social Connections Among Older Adults During “Social Distancing” Restrictions

“…Pulling together may involve an increased sense of belonging to a community, of being "in it together," and of being part of a larger whole, and has been posited to be a contributor to reduced rates of suicide following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963, 19 the Challenger disaster in 1986, 17 and the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. 20 It is important to note, however, that suicide rates following September 11, 2001 may differ across subgroups 21 and that not all experts agree on how to best analyze and interpret the effects of national tragedies on suicide rates. 22 In contrast, tragedies that cause geographic displacement or social distancing (e.g., natural disasters, pandemics) may be associated with "pulling apart" effects in communities and contribute to increases in mental health problems and suicide.…”

O efeito Werther e sua relação com taxas de tentativas de suicídio: uma revisão narrativa

“…A pesquisa indica haver aumento nas taxas de suicídio por meio de divulgações na internet, mas apresenta poucos dados a respeito. O estudo de (Vuorio et al, 2018) se dedicou a entender o comportamento suicida de pilotos de avião, após os ataques de 11 de setembro em Nova York provocados por exposição à mídia. Consideraram cinco anos anteriores ao 11 de setembro, e os três anos subsequentes.…”

“…4 durante o primeiro ano, 3 no segundo e 1 no terceiro ano após os ataques às torres gêmeas. O risco relativo foi calculado em 3,68 no primeiro ano, 2,48 no segundo, e 0,88 no terceiro (Vuorio et al, 2018). Concluem (Vuorio et al, 2018) que houve um efeito imitativo nestes casos, embora não pudessem determinar as causas, inferiram que seriam pilotos mais vulneráveis.…”