Suicide by airplane

Suicide by airplane (or any airfoil device) is defined as intentional flight into terrain or intentionally over-stressing the aircraft with the intention of committing suicide. Two to three deaths each year in the United States are attributed to suicide with a general aviation aircraft. All documented cases have been committed by males and motivations range widely with some pilots leaving notes behind, others communicating cryptically with air traffic controllers and still others that can only be reasoned as suicide given the nature of the incident. This is a highly successful form of suicide with death resulting from collision impact and subsequent injuries.