Murder-Suicides by Pilots Are Vexing Airlines as Deaths Mount

Pilot actions a focus in China Eastern plunge killing 132
Intentional crashes a leading cause of airline travel deaths

Rescue workers at the site of the Germanwings plane crash near the French Alps in March 2015.Photographer: Francis Pellier MI/Ministere de l’Interieur/Getty Images

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By Alan Levin

June 13, 2022 at 2:00 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

For decades, commercial airline travel has gotten progressively safer. But one cause of deaths has stubbornly persisted: pilots who intentionally crash in murder-suicides.

Preliminary evidence suggests the crash of a China Eastern Airlines Corp. jet in March may be the latest such tragedy, a person familiar with the investigation said. If confirmed, that would make it the fourth since 2013, bringing deaths in those crashes to 554.