I'd rule out a suicide attempt because if the pilot doing it had moved to switches to cut off and the other pilot had put them back on, a hard push forward on the control column at that height would have settled the matter.
Neither Germanwings 9525 nor MH370 (most likely) were 'quick and dirty' suicides in that sense. People are weird. Cutting the fuel at such a critical stage of the flight is psychologically different than actively flying it into the ground. Think resignation vs assertion. They may have calculated it as unrecoverable anyway. There is also the plausible deniability or at least it may never be known, for sure, which pilot did it. This may offer some protection to the guilty pilot's family because their shame will be far greater than in Western countries.
Last edited by Sizzling_foil; 13th July 2025 at
04:11
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Subjects
(links are to this post in the relevant subject page so that this post can be seen in context): Fuel (All)Fuel Cutoff Switches
4U9525 is certainly not an outlier in that tragic but thankfully small dataset.
It was a pilot suicide without having to touch the yoke/stick and most likely same with MH370. Just set the autopilot (a push of a button) on a irrevocable course. No dramatic manoeuvres or wrestling with the controls. You asked why the pilot, if this was a suicide, didn't just nose it over as if this would be the default method.
I'm a bit worried that 'muscle memory' becomes an all too convenient construct to blame this on like 'scenario fulfillment' and Iran Air 665. If we can name something we thing we control something.
Subjects
(links are to this post in the relevant subject page so that this post can be seen in context): Muscle Memory
I find this newly announced probe into the fuel control switches quite surprising. I dont expect anything to be found.
Surprising from a technical pov, yes, but not from a political pov; it was initiated by India\x92s Directorate General of Civil Aviation. Better for them to imply Boeing's switches were to blame than something closer to home. They must be worried.
Subjects
(links are to this post in the relevant subject page so that this post can be seen in context): Fuel (All)Fuel Cutoff Switches
There certainly have been media reports and clickbait implying as much, but when you look into them the actual story is that of a mentally healthy adult
Apparently
mentally healthy. Getting a medical signed off isn't exactly an iron-clad guarantee of mental health, but you're right that some commentators are trying to sensationalise the consequences of normal but testing life events.
Subjects
(links are to this post in the relevant subject page so that this post can be seen in context): Mental Health