A psychological autopsy, of a 36-yr-old pilot who crashed his aircraft into the ground at high speed, yielded strong presumptive evidence of an unrecognized depression in a man with manipulative & mildly antisocial characteristics. Includes comments on the role of psychological autopsy in aircraft accident investigation, anniversary reactions, the use of psychiatric diagnosis to support the agreed-upon decision on the desired disposition, some aspects of subintentional behavior, etc. (23 ref)