10 Tragic Cases Of Suicide-By-Pilot

Following recent assertions by some investigators that the pilot of Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 intentionally crashed his plane into the Indian Ocean, the act of suicide-by-pilot has come underneath the microscope once again. Although not a frequent occurrence, there is a history of suicide-by-pilot that makes for disturbing reading.

10 Germanwings Flight 9525

Germanwings Flight 9525 crashed into the French Alps on March 24, 2015. Investigators quickly determined that the plane, which was scheduled to fly from Barcelona to Dusseldorf, was intentionally flown into a mountain range by copilot Andreas Lubitz. In total, 150 people died in the crash.

Shortly after making final contact with air traffic control at 9:30 AM, the pilot left the cockpit. At this point, the plane’s altitude was 12,000 meters (38,000 ft). Lubitz then locked himself in the cockpit and changed the flight The Crash Detectives: ... Negroni, Christine Best Price: $1.95 Buy New $11.25 (as of 12:20 UTC - Details) monitoring system in order to put the aircraft into the descent.

Prior to the crash, investigators found that Lubitz had researched the terms “suicide” and “cockpit doors” online, and he’d also been treated for “suicidal tendencies” before he’d received his pilot’s license.

9 Japan Airlines Flight 350

In 1982, 35-year-old Captain Seiji Katagiri came very close causing an even greater disaster. The pilot, who had a history of mental illness, including indications of possible psychosis or sociopathy, deliberately crashed his plane. Copilot Yoshifumi Ishikawa and flight engineer Yoshimi Ozaki fought Katagiri to regain control of the plane and stop it from nosediving but failed to do so. Ultimately, the plane crashed into Tokyo Bay, killing 24 of the plane’s 166 occupants.

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Amazingly, although airline doctors had once found Katagiri fit for duty, he was declared not guilty by reason of insanity during his trial. After spending several years in a mental hospital, Katagiri lives today with his wife in a house within sight of Mount Fuji.

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By all accounts, Colin Richard Forman was a troubled individual. A Brit who immigrated to Australia in the early 1970s, Forman managed to obtain a pilot’s license despite obvious signs of mental instability. As the years passed, his imbalance steadily grew worse. What eventually sent Forman over the edge was his firing from Connair after they learned of his earlier conviction for trying to forge a Qantas ticket back home to England.

Believing that Connair boss Roger Connellan was personally responsible for his misfortune, Forman destroyed his apartment in Mount Isa sometime on Monday, January 3, 1977. When police broke into the one-bedroom flat, they discovered that besides destroying most of his apartment’s furniture, Forman had also written the words “Sentenced to death” in red ink in a logbook.

On January 5, Forman stole a Beechcraft 58 Baron in the town of Wyndham and flew to the Alice Springs Airport. There, at 11:00 AM, he crashed the aircraft into the Connair hangar, killing four people.

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