摘要: |
All aviation accidents are tragic, but few are more avoidable than aircraft-assisted suicide. Aircraft-assisted suicide may precipitate as a result of clinical depression, marital or financial difficulties, or numerous other problems. While aircraft-assisted suicide attempts almost always result in pilot fatalities, they also have the serious and unfortunate potential to cause collateral damage to property and life. Our laboratory was interested in evaluating the epidemiological, toxicological, and aeromedical findings from pilots involved in aircraft-assisted suicides. Case histories, accident information, and the declaration of suicide as the probable cause in the aviation accidents were obtained from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). Toxicological information was obtained from the Civil Aerospace Medical Institute's Bioaeronautical Sciences Research Laboratory. Other relevant information was obtained from medical certification data systems. Over the 10-year period, 1993-2002, there were 3648 fatal aviation accidents. |