Any accidents caused by financial worries?

[Donna Smokehood]

Hi all

Something i'm working on. Does anyone know of any aircaft accidents DIRECTLY attributable to crew financial hardship/worries?

Thanks in advance

[jackcarls0n]

FedEx Hijack?

The Fedex Hijack...one of the crew hijacked the aircraft..though not the accident....was an incident...saw it on NAT GEO.


Guess that was due to finnancial hardship.

[Northbeach]

Just curious: who, what, where, why and when.........

That is an interesting first post of yours.

Makes me wonder; what circumstances are prompting your question, why are you asking this ....and so on. Almost sounds like a journalist fishing for sensational story to sell (during a period of economic hardship).

PPRuNe is an open anonymous forum...... If you are not a member of the media, or looking to sell a story, please accept my apology for my error. I have a strong anti-media bias-I can't stand them.

any aircaft accidents DIRECTLY attributable to crew financial hardship/worries?

No, I am not aware of any case where the perpetrator of the accident wrote a suicide note explicitly indicating that related financial hardship/worries is/are the root cause of their decision.

Further, I do not know of a case where any official accident investigating organization; experienced, tasked, trained, authorized and equipped to analyze aircraft accidents, unanimously concluded and so stated in their final report "probable cause" section that financial hardship/worries were the reason for the crash.

There have been several cases where the subject was brought up during the investigation, and where some member(s) of the investigative team thought that the crew's financial hardship/worries may have played a significant part in the outcome. Nevertheless, in most cases I am aware of, this evidence and conclusion (crew financial hardship/worries) was hotly contested by others directly working the investigation as well as other parties involved in the accident.

The Federal Express example stated above would be relevant to your question; it has explosive racial overtones, intrigue, attempted murder and mass destruction, and by extension elements of financial hardship/worries.

[Capetonian]

I haven't researched this so please correct me if I'm wrong, but the Egyptair B767 (MS999?) was deliberately flown into the sea, didn't the first officer have some gripe against the company?

[Northbeach]

Information is a quick search away

I haven't researched this

EgyptAir Flight 990 10-13-1999
AAB-02-01
PB2002-910401

160 pages here is the link, happy reading:

http://www.ntsb.gov/publictn/2002/AAB0201.pdf

but the Egyptair B767 (MS999?) was deliberately flown into the sea, didn't the first officer have some gripe against the company

As I said:

Nevertheless, in most cases I am aware of, this evidence and conclusion (crew financial hardship/worries) was hotly contested by others directly working the investigation as well as other parties involved in the accident.

[Donna Smokehood]

That is an interesting first post of yours.

Makes me wonder; what circumstances are prompting your question, why are you asking this ....and so on. Almost sounds like a journalist fishing for sensational story to sell (during a period of economic hardship).

Oh dear. I was waiting for the 'Journo Alert', sure enough,2 posts in.

Not a Journo, just a pilot being badly treated by the company.

Not my first post either, but for some reason the moderators removed my previous. don't know why, not rude or libellous.

[Northbeach]

Ok not a journo........

Here are a few links where financial problems, may have played a part. I was not part of the investigation(s) and do not have any 1st hand knowledge. I will not speculate on whether financial problems were or were not the reason for the accidents/incidents.

FedEx 705

FedEx Express Flight 705 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Silk Air 185

SilkAir Flight 185 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

EgyptAir 990

EgyptAir Flight 990 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Joseph Stack vs IRS 02-19-2010

2010 Austin plane crash - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

OK, I'm done with this thread, it's my last post or reply here.

[Brian Abraham]

There was a fatal Citation crash in the US that was being flown by a very senior manager (chief pilot, director of operations or some such) of an aviation college (forget which but an Embry-Riddle type organisation). The manager was having the torch put to him by the FAA at the time and the stress incurred was mentioned as having been a possible contributor.

[trex450]

not an accident but I believe that during the infamous "rotors running redunduncies" by Bristows some years back led to a helicopter being parked up on an island off Scotland with very little fuel on board with the crew opting to take a ferry home. Maybe someone can enlighten the full story but I think the basics are there.

On a more serious note any CRM course teaches us that an accident is never caused by a single event but by multiple small ones and so personal finances probably play a part somewhere along the line in a fair number.

[Di_Vosh]

Colgan 3407 Q400 crash near Buffalo.

Contributing factors were the crews fatigue levels. Both crew were based in New York but the FO commuted from Seattle and the Captain commuted from Florida. They were commuting because their low salaries meant that they couldn't afford to live where they were based.

DIVOSH!