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4-1990

The Impact of Birthdate Biorhythms on Aviation Accidents

Involving Hellenic Air Force Fighter Pilots
Ioannis Fokas
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Daytona Beach

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 THE IMPACT OF BIRTHDATE BIORHYTHMS
ON AVIATION ACCIDENTS INVOLVING HELLENIC AIR FORCE
FIGHTER PILOTS

by
Ioannis Fokas

Thesis Submitted to the

School of Graduate Studies and Research
in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of
Master of Aeronautical Science

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

Daytona Beach, Florida
April 1990
 UMI Number: EP31840

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 THE IMPACT OF BIRTHDATE BIORHYTHMS
ON AVIATION ACCIDENTS INVOLVING HELLENIC AIR FORCE
FIGHTER PILOTS

by
Ioannis Fokas

This thesis was prepared under the direction of the candidate's

thesis committee chairman, Dr. Charles Richardson, Department of
Aeronautical Science, and has been approved by the members of his
thesis committee. It was submitted to the School of Graduate
Studies and Research and was accepted in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of Master of Aeronautical Science.

THESIS COMMITTEE:

Dr. Charles'Richardson
Chairman

Mr. William Grubc

Member

> lUt
Mr. Donald Hunt
Member

Dean, ochbo/of Graduate Studies and Research Date '

 Acknowledgements
I would like to acknowledge with gratitude the help of the chairman
of my thesis committee, Dr. Charles Richardson, for his help,
encouragement, kindness and patient assistance throughout the
writing of my thesis. Also, I wish to extend my gratitude to the
members of my thesis committee, Mr. William Gruber and Mr.
Donald Hunt, for their help and assistance. Furthermore, I
appreciate the help and assistance of Dr. William Grams with the
statistics method and thesis review. In addition, I would like to
thank John Metzner of the English Department for his help in
reviewing and assuring the best usage of English. This thesis could
not have been written without your help. I thank you all sincerely.

iv
 ABSTRACT

Author: Ioannis Fokas

Title: The Impact of Birthdate Biorhythms on Aviation
Accidents Involving Hellenic Air Force Fighter Pilots
Institution: Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Degree: Master of Aeronautical Science
Year: 1990

This study investigated the impact of birthdate biorhythm on

aviation accidents involving Hellenic Air Force fighter pilots. A list
of names, birthdates, and the dates of accidents was compiled from
accidents involving pilots who had flown fighter aircraft and have
reacted improperly even though they had sufficient time to
implement the proper procedures. The list was acquired from the
History Office of the Hellenic Air Force. A computer program was
acquired for the specific purpose of tracking the pilot's birthdate
biorhythm cycles. The Standardized Statistic Test for Proportion
was used for statistical inferences. The results suggest that the
date of the aircraft accidents are highly related to the pilots' critical
periods. Therefore, the results support the importance of
considering the critical period when scheduling pilots and thereby
minimizing the number of aviation accidents.

v
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of Tables viii

List of Figures x

Introduction 1

Statement of the Problem 3

Review of Related Literature 4
Statement of the Hypothesis 38

Method 39

Subjects 39
Instrument 42
Design 44
Adjustments to Biorhythm Theory 46
Middle Critical Period 46
The Function of a Biorhythm Cycle 52
Biorhythmic Day and Calendar Days 56
Computer Biorhythm Program Design 60
Assertions and Assumptions 63

vi
 Procedure 66

Analysis 70

Standard Statistic Test for Proportion Analysis 70

Critical Period Accident Analysis 73

Historical Description of Accidents 90
Biorhythm Theory Versus Biological Rhythms 133
Discussion 136

Conclusions 140

Recommendations for Aviation Safety 140

Recommendations for Further Studies 142

References 146

vii
 LIST OF TABLES

Table

1. Biorhythmic Critical Days in the Span of 75 Years 23

2. Biorhythms of PGA Tournament Winners: 1971-1975 32

3. Middle Critical Period 48

4. Biorhythm Day Coincides with a Calendar Day 58

5. Biorhythm Day Advance One Calendar Day 59

6. Standard Statistic Test for Proportion 72

7. Accidents Number Conversion to Figure Number 74

8. Type of a Critical Period Accident Analysis 77

9. Critical Period Accidents and the Phases of the Biorhythm

Cycles 79

viii
10. Instrument Flight Accidents on Critical Periods 82

11. Instrument Flight Accidents and the Phases of the Biorhythm

Cycles 84

12. One Day Before the Critical Period Accidents 86

13. Phases of the Biorhythm Cycles on Total Sample of

Accidents 87

14. Aviation Safety Patterns 89

ix
 LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1. The Shape of a Theoretical Biorhythm Cycle 53

Figure 2. The Shape of the Researcher's Biorhythm Cycle 53

Figure 3. The Shape of the Computerized Biorhythm Cycles .... 61

Figure 4. Biorhythms of TF-104 pilot Killed Near Neridomachi

Ylias on July 31, 1972 While Performing Acrobatic
Maneuvers 91

Figure 5. Biorhythms of RF-84 Pilot Killed Near the Area of

Larissas in November 28, 1973 While Performing
Instrument Descent in Actual Weather 92

Figure 6. Biorhythms of RF-84 Pilot Killed in a Mountain Area

of Vassilika Istias on March 28, 1974 During a Low
Altitude Navigation Mission 94

x
Figure 7. Biorhythms of T-33 Instructor Pilot killed near
Damassio Larissas on May 13, 1974 During a Night
Instrument Flight 95

Figure 8. Biorhythms of F-5 Pilot Killed on Thermaiko Gulf on

April 22, 1975 Shortly After Take-Off While Restricted
Vision Existed 96

Figure 9. Biorhythms of F-84 pilot killed near Kimi of Evia on

August 1, 1975 98

Figure 10. Bioryhthms of F-84 Pilot Killed Near Kasteli Airport

on August 11, 1975 99

Figure 11. Bioryhthms of F-5 Pilot Killed in the Area of Karpenisi

Euritanias on November 19, 1975 While on a Cross
Country Mission 100

Figure 12. -Biorhythms of F-84 Pilot Killed in the Area of Farsala

Larissa on January 8, 1976 While Perfoming an
Instrument Descent in Actual Weather 102

xi
Figure 13. Biorhythms of F-84 Pilot Killed in the Area of Farsala
Larissa on January 8, 1976 While He Was Perfoming
an Instrument Descent in Actual Weather 103

Figure 14. Biorhythms of F-84 Pilot Killed after an Unsuccessful

Ejection Near Halki Larissas on
February 24, 1976 104

Figure 15. Biorhythms of F-5 Pilot Killed in a Collision with

Another Aircraft on a Night Mission Near the Village
of Plagiari on December 16, 1976 106

Figure 16. Biorhythms of F-1 Pilot Killed in the Area of Amfissa

Fokidas on July 5, 1977 While Performing Acrobatic
Maneuvers 107

Figure 17. Biorhythms of A-7 Pilot Killed in a Crash into a

Mountain Near to Souda Airport on August 2, 1977 on
a Night Mission 108
Figure 18. Biorhythms of F-84 Pilot Killed in a Crash in the Area
Antichassia Tricalon on March 27, 1978 While Flying
in Actual Weather 110

Figure 19. Biorhythms of F-84 Pilot Killed in a Crash in the

Mountain Area of Antichassia Tricalon on March 27,
1978 While Flying in Actual Weather as No. 1 in a
Formation Ill

Figure 20. Biorhythms of F-104 Pilot killed in a Sea Crash Near

the Area of Loutra Kilinis on November 21, 1978
While on a Night Mission 112

Figure 21. Biorhythms of RF-5 Pilot Killed after His Aircraft

Crashed in the Area of Lamia on May 23, 1980 While
on a Duty Mission 113

Figure 22. Biorhythms of F-1 Pilot Killed on a Night Mission on

June 6, 1980 115

xiii
Figure 23. Biorhythms of F-1 Pilot Killed after His Aircraft
Crashed in the Sea Area of Skiropoula Island on
November 18, 1981 116

Figure 24. Biorhythms of T-33 Pilot Killed near Souda Airport in

Crete on December 18, 1981 117

Figure 25. Biorhythms of F-4 Pilot Killed after His Aircraft

Crashed near the Area of Saint John Apidea Lakonias
on December 15, 1982 118

Figure 26. Biorhythms of A-7 Pilot Killed Near the Village

Skonizo of Chania Crete on July 8, 1983 While
Performing Acrobatic Maneuvers 120

Figure 27. Biorhythms of F-4 Pilot Killed after His Aircraft

Crashed in the Area of Agiocabou of Larissas on
May 2, 1984 121

Figure 28. Biorhythms of F-4 Pilot Killed on a Low Level Flight

Mission on July 11, 1985 122

xiv
Figure 29. Biorhythms of A-7 Pilot Killed on September 11, 1985
While Flying a Low Level Mission 123

Figure 30. Biorhythms of F-4 Pilot Killed on January 22,

1987 While Flying a Night Navigation Mission 125

Figure 31. Biorhythms of RF-4 Pilot Killed after His Aircraft

Crash on May 7, 1987 While Flying a Low Level
Mission 126

Figure 32. Biorhythms of F-104 Pilot Killed after the Aircraft

Crashed in the Area of Larissa on September 23, 1987
While on Take-off 127

Figure 33. Biorhythms of F-5 Pilot Killed at Night after

His Aircraft Crashed at Sea in Gulf of Pagassiticos on
December 16, 1987 While Performing an Instrument
Descent 129

Figure 34. Biorhythms of F-1 Pilot Killed after His Aircraft

Crashed on February 10, 1988 130

xv
Figure 35. Biorhythms of F-5 Pilot Killed after His Aircraft
Crashed on September 14, 1988 While Performing Dog
Fight Maneuvers 131

Figure 36. Biorhythms of T-33 Pilot Killed after His Aircraft

Crashed in the Area of Eleusina Attikis on March 7,
1989 While on Take-Off 132

xvi
 Introduction

Airline deregulation and the resulting increased competition

among air carriers has led to more demanding flight schedules for
pilots to help cut operating costs. In some cases, pilots have
agreed to amend union contracts, permitting more difficult
schedules in order to make their airlines more competitive
(Stockton, 1988).
Many international pilots have expressed fear that their
fatigue leaves them unprepared to cope with emergencies. Also, it
has been proven that there are circadian mechanisms in the
human body which influence the pilot's abilities and result in
lowering the standards of operational performance (Hawkins,
1987). A typical dictionary definition of circadian is defined as
"noting or pertaining to rhythmic biological cycles recurring at
approximately 24 hour intervals." The word circadian (Latin:
circa—about and a^es—day) was introduced by Franz Halberg in
1959 to describe the approximately 24 hour cycles that are
internally generated by an organism (Moore-Ede, Sulzman &
Fuller, 1982).
Recently some interest has been revived in a different theory
of biological cycles in human beings. This theory is named
Biorhythm and proposes that three basic cyclical rhythms occur
regularly in human beings starting at the moment of birth. The
 2
theory suggests that these cycles are fundamental to life, are
exactingly regular, continue involuntarily, and are unaffected by
circadian changes (Tarek, Khalil & Kurucz, 1977).
One of the major areas in which the biorhythm theory has
been applied is in accident prevention. Biorhythm application has
improved the safety records for factory workers, taxi drivers, and
truck drivers. In the United States, interest has been shown in
the fields of aviation, health, and medicine. Doctors in the field of
mental health are studying the correlation between biorhythms
and sudden changes in behavior. Correlations between biorhythm
patterns and achievement in athletic or sporting events are most
interesting. Biorhythms may also help to improve our
relationships with others; at the very least, it will give us greater
insight and understanding (Smith, 1976).
The existing tendency to examine biological rhythms in
aviation is reflected (among others) by the study of the Israel Air-
Force. This study examined the role of endogenous circadian
rhythmicity in Air Force flight accidents due to pilot error over a
period of 12 years (1968-1980) (Ribak, Ashkenazi, Klepfish, Avgar,
Tal, Kallner & Noyman, 1981).
This research is a study of the birthdate biorhythm theory on
aviation accidents. This study does not intend to prove or disprove
the birthdate biorhythm theory since it does not examine the total
occurrent accidents. The researcher intended to determine the
 3
human error potentially occurring in particular cases reflected or
anticipated by the biorhythm theory. In applied situations with
human performance, one needs to be aware of rhythms and their
properties in order to take advantage of them, or at least not be
put at a disadvantage because of them. This is a study of the
Hellenic Air Force pilots who have been killed during on-duty
missions over a period of 17 years (1972-1989). The results of this
study are intended to be a useful tool for anyone who is involved
in aircraft flights or in scheduling the pilots' duties. The results
are especially appropriate for the Air Forces that use methods
similar to those of the Hellenic Air Force for recruiting, educating,
and training their personnel. The results can be used effectively
by both flight schools and pilots. It is hoped that this study will
help to minimize the number of aircraft accidents.

Statement of the Problem

The purpose of this study is to determine whether any
relationship exists between the date of aviation accidents and
pilots' well being or fitness according to birthdate biorhythm
theory. Aircraft accident according to the Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) means an occurrence associated with the
operation of an aircraft which takes place between the time any
person boards the aircraft with the intention of flight and all such
persons have disembarked, and in which any person suffers death
 4
or serious injury, or in which the aircraft receives substantial
damage. For a biorhythm study, a biorhythm accident is defined
as any un-voluntary deviation of ground or flight rules recorded by
any Aviation Safety Department or similar aviation departments.
These records should include unconscious actions that result in
violations of flight rules, not following proper procedures, pilot
disorientation, damage to equipment, and harm to human beings.
Well being or fitness is defined as a condition which permits a
generally high level of physical, emotional, and mental
performance in flight related activities. It suggests an ability to
perform with minimal fatigue, to be tolerant to stresses, and to be
readily able to cope with changes in the environment (Hawkins,
1987).

Review of Related Literature

A fundamental phenomenon in the universe is the occurrence
of cycles. Cycles, or rhythms, can be defined as repetitions at
regular time intervals of situations, events, and levels of activity
(Strughold, 1971). Also, it has long been known that most
biological processes are rhythmic or cyclic in character. That is,
they consist of sequences of events which repeat themselves at
regular intervals. The sequence may be simple or extremely
complex, and the time span or period of a particular cycle may be
anything from a fraction of a second to many years. Such rhythms
 5
occur in all forms of life and man is no exception (Colquhoun,
1976).
Biological rhythms are cyclic processes taking place within
organisms. Their cycles may be circadian (lasting about a day) or
may last longer. This rhythmic activity is determined by processes
and forces both inside and outside the body. An example of a
biological rhythm is that of the change from sleep to a wakened
state. Another is that the body temperature follows a circadian
rhythm with the low parts of the cycle occurring in the early
morning and late at night. Also, when we change our activity
from our normal rhythm, we cause confusion in our bodies, such as
when we experience "jet lag." Finally, the effect of the sun and
moon in producing rhythms on the biology of the earth is much
more widespread than is apparent at first glance (Alexander,
1972).
The properties of circadian clocks (rhythms) in mammals
were first extensively characterized by Curt Richter. In his
doctoral thesis, published in 1922, he demonstrated the internal
nature of circadian activity rhythms in the rat and showed that
they were synchronized by light-dark cycles and the time of
feeding (Moore-Ede, 1982).

There are three different possible explanations of rhythmic

activity in biological systems. These rhythms could be learned,
inherited or depend on reactions to cosmic stimuli. Biologist differ
 6
sharply today about how living clocks work, and the problem is so
complex that a reconciliation seems hardly likely within the next
few years. Each of these hypotheses has its own eager advocates,
and there is not yet enough evidence for any of the proponents to
convince the others that they are wrong (Ward, 1974).
The biological rhythm can be categorized into two basic
types. The first is called an exogen biological rhythm. It is caused
by, and is dependent on, external environmental cycles. The
second type consists of the endogen biological rhythms, most of
which originated independently as an inherent property of life
(Strughold, 1971). Opposed to inheritance as the origin of the
primary timer is Frank A. Brown, Jr., Morrison Professor of
Biology at Northwestern University. Brown and his many co-
workers, who have been studying animal and plant rhythms for
more than three decades, are convinced that tides in forces from
outer space are the master clocks that synchronize living clocks.
These tides are bound to the phases of the moon and to sunspot
cycles. They ebb and flow to many rhythms: hourly, daily,
monthly, and yearly. In turn, they drive other tides in the many
unseen geophysical forces that immediately surround the earth.
These are forces like barometric pressure, the earth's magnetic
field, ionization of the atmosphere, cosmic rays, and weak
electromagnetic fields of radio frequency. All of these tides are so
extremely weak that it seems incredible that any organism could
 7
sense slight changes in them. Brown's view of the cosmic
hypothesis is that "while it may be proven in the future that
organisms also have available fully independent timing systems for
the natural geophysical periods, there is no evidence yet available
to indicate it. All our current knowledge of the clocks of animals
and plants falls into a consistent rational scheme in terms of
biological 'clock works,' with remarkably similar properties
throughout all plants and animals, beautifully adapted for
maximal usefulness to the organisms, and dependent for their
timing upon continuing response to the subtle geophysical
environment" (Ward, 1974).
Biological rhythms that persist in the absence of the most
obvious environmental cycles all have periods that match the
prominent geophysical cycles on earth: a solar day (24 hours), a
lunar day (24.8 hours), a month (29.5 days), and a year (365.25
days). Often, in the artificial constancy of the laboratory, the
periods of these rhythms deviate slightly from the ones displayed
in nature and are referred to as circadian, circalunadian,
circamonthly, or circannual (Palmer, 1976).
Today, scientists are investigating many different kinds of
rhythms in man: internal monthly rhythms, such as the physical
changes in hormone levels and body temperature; the circadian
rhythms, which coincide approximately with a twenty-four-hour
day and regulate the daily changes in body temperature, blood
 8
pressure, blood sugar, and hemoglobin levels; and the even shorter
rhythms, such as those that occur during periods of sleep and
dreaming. Other recent studies on rhythms have involved mood
changes and depression, jet lag and its effects, eating habits
related to the enzyme cycle, worker efficiency cycles, reactions to
drugs and therapy at different times, allergic sensitivity, breathing
rhythms, the onset and severity of certain diseases, immunity to
infection, and the timing of drug-taking and surgical procedures.
Many current studies on rhythms are also being conducted with
plants and lower forms of animal life (Smith, 1976).
Since 1950, there has been an acceleration in research in this
field which has resulted in the creation of a new sub-discipline
called chronobiology (Hawkins, 1987). One theory gaining
increasing prominence today involves the fascinating study of
biorhythms. The word biorhythm is simply a compound of the
common Greek term for life, bios, and another word borrowed from
the Greek, rhythmos, which indicates a regulated beat and is
generally associated with such arts as music and poetry. The
rhythm in biorhythm is used in the same sense, a regulated beat,
just as in music and poetry (Thommen, 1973).
Shortly before 1900, in the two cities that were the poles of
European scientific life-Berlin and Vienna-the discovery of
biorhythm occurred. The timing is significant. In that same
period, Freud started to bring together his clinical experience with
 9
the mentally ill to create the theory of psychoanalysis. The time
was clearly ripe for revelations like biorhythm and psychoanalysis,
both of which offer ways to explain the hidden roots of our actions
and our lives (Gittelson, 1976).
Unlike psychoanalysis, biorhythm theory had two "fathers":
Dr. Hermann Swoboda, professor of psychology at the University of
Vienna; and Dr. Wilhelm Fliess, an eminent nose and throat
specialist in Berlin who was later to become president of the
German Academy of Sciences. Like many other scientists on the
verge of a breakthrough, Fliess and Swoboda were working along
very similar lines but were largely unaware of each other. It is
striking evidence of the force of the nineteenth century climate—
and perhaps of the truth of biorhythm theory—that these two men,
through painstaking but independent research, came to virtually
identical conclusions. Also, a third researcher Alfred Teltscher
played a critical role in developing the theory as we know it today
(Gittelson, 1982).
Wilhelm Fliess was born in Berlin in 1859. He attended
medical school at the University of Berlin where he graduated as
an otolaryngologist-a nose and throat specialist-about 1885
(Gittelson, 1976).
A highly respected and prominent doctor in Berlin, Fliess did
pioneer work on biorhythms in the 1890s. Fliess, who had
observed both 23-day and 28-day rhythms in many of his patients,
began to collect statistics on the periodic occurrence of fevers,
childhood diseases, and the susceptibility to disease and death.
With these statistics in hand, Fliess believed he had detected
rhythms which were fundamental to man's life. Dr. Fliess later
developed two major biorhythm theories: first, that nature
bestows on man "master internal clocks" which begin counting
time at birth and continue throughout life; and second, that one of
these clocks regulates a 23-day cycle influencing man's physical
condition and another regulates a 28-day cycle influencing
emotions or degree of sensitivity. Fliess called the 23-day physical
cycle, the male cycle, since it influenced strength, endurance, and
vitality. He considered the 28-day cycle to be representative of the
female element in all human beings; it governed sensitivity,
intuition, love, and creativity—the entire emotional spectrum
(Smith, 1976).
Fliess genuinely believed that he had discovered and
satisfactorily explained some of nature's basic secrets. He thought
that his laws of biological rhythms were as exact and unchanging
as the physical laws discovered by Newton and Galileo. So he
waited for his theories to produce revolution in the biology and
medicine of his day, and he was truly surprised when they failed
to do so (Cohen, 1976).
With Germanic thoroughness, Fliess collected all the
information at hand into an enormous volume of 564 pages. The
 11
book was entitled Der Ablauf des Lebens, Grundlegung zur Exakten
Biologie which in English means The Course of Life, Foundation
for an Exact Biology. By and large, Fliess' medical and scientific
colleagues ignored his book. Some of them even attacked his
ideas, and the statistics upon which they were based. But a few
medical men, particularly the more radical thinkers among them,
were of the opinion that Fliess was really on to something.
Sigmund Freud, whose theories were hardly less radical and
controversial than those of his friend Fliess, believed for many
years that Fliess' theory of 23-day and 28-day cycles, linked to the
bisexual nature of the human species, represented a great
breakthrough in biology. Later in his life, Freud either lost
interest in the theory or changed his mind about it. There was a
great deal of correspondence between Fliess and Freud, but little of
it has been published. The two men also met frequently and often
discussed their respective ideas (Cohen, 1976).
Fliess continued to write and lecture upon the subject of
biological cycles for many years. Three additional books,
containing further documentation and reprints of the lectures
Fliess had presented at numerous medical and scientific meetings,
were published between 1909 and 1925 under the titles Vom Leben
und Vom Tod {Of Life and Death), Das Jahr im Lebendigen (The
Year in the Living), Zur Periodenlehre (The Theory of Periodicity),
a collection of lectures (Thommen, 1973).
 12
During this period Fliess continued to be a respected, sought-
after, and extremely wealthy member of the medical profession. In
1910, while still actively recruiting new members for his
controversial theories, Fliess was elected the president of the
Germanic Academy of Sciences, a major honor for any scientist.
So while the majority of his colleagues disagreed with his theories,
they did not regard him as a crackpot (Cohen, 1976).
Dr. Hermann Swoboda was born in 1873 in Vienna, and died
in 1963 at the age of ninety. At the end of the nineteenth century,
Dr. Swoboda, professor of psychology at the University of Vienna,
was prompted by his research findings to wonder whether there
might not be some regularity or rhythm to these fundamental
changes in man's disposition. Swoboda apparently was impressed
by John Beard's report of 1897 on the span of gestation and the
cycle of birth, and by the publication of a scientific paper on
bisexuality in man by Wilhelm Fliess (Thommen, 1976). He was
familiar with the philosophical speculation of Johann Friedrich
Herbart, whose Textbook on Psychology published between 1850
and 1852, reported rhythmic changes in mental states but failed to
find an explanation for those variations (Gittelson, 1976).
Out of this ferment of ideas, Swoboda's research in
biorhythm began to grow. At first, he concentrated on his own
field, psychology, and did not look further afield for confirmation of
biorhythms. He was concerned with how man feels and thinks
about himself. As Swoboda himself put it in a paper presented to
the University of Vienna in 1900: "Life is subject to consistent
changes. This understanding does not refer to changes in our
destiny or to changes that take place in the course of life. Even if
someone lived a life entirely free of outside forces, of anything that
could alter his mental and physical state, still his life would not be
identical from day to day. The best of physical health does not
prevent us from feeling ill sometimes, or less happy than usual"
(Gittelson, 1976).
As Swoboda began to collect his statistics, he became more
and more convinced that not only were cycles basic to life, but one
could calculate the cycles with mathematical exactness, and within
certain limits, human behavior could be predicted. He put his
beliefs this way: "We will no longer ask why man acts one way or
another, because we have learned to recognize that his action is
influenced by periodic changes and that man's reaction to an
impression can be foreseen, or predicted, to use a stronger term.
Such a psychoanalysis could be called bionomy, because, as in
chemistry where the researcher can anticipate the outcome of a
formula, through bionomy the psychologist can anticipate, or
predict, so to speak, the periodic changes in man" (Cohen, 1976).
Swoboda was an analytical thinker and a systematic
recorder. His painstaking research in psychology and periodicity
produced convincing evidence of rhythms in life. During his initial
research between 1897 and 1902, Swoboda recorded the recurrence
of pain and the swelling of tissues such as is experienced in insect
bites. He discovered a periodicity in fevers, in the outbreak of an
illness, and in heart attacks. This phenomenon had been reported
by Fliess in a medical review and led to the discovery of certain
basic rhythms in man—one a 23-day cycle and the other a 28-day
cycle. Swoboda showed a deep interest in the study of dreams and
their origin and noted that melodies and ideas would often repeat
in one's mind after periodic intervals generally based on a 23-day
or a 28-day rhythm (Thommen, 1973).
Swoboda added a new element which is still present in the
theory of biorhythms. He laid great stress on what he called the
critical days. These were the days in which the cycle switched
over from high to low. If you think of the cycle as a smooth curve,
as it is usually shown, the critical day is the day when the curve is
at dead center, midway between the high point and the low point.
If the curve is traced on graph paper the critical day is
represented when the curved line intersects the straight line
representing zero (Cohen, 1976).
Swoboda's discovery of these two basic biorhythms quickly
led him to write a succession of distinguished and widely-popular
books explaining and developing the idea of cycles in human life.
First, in 1904, came a book with the imposing title of The Periods
of Human Life, in Their Psychological and Biological Significance.
In the very next year Swoboda published Studies on the Basis of
Psychology, which further elaborated his work on creativity and
the recurrence of dreams. As biorhythm theory began to exert an
ever stronger fascination for doctors and the general public,
Swoboda realized that work in this field would be much easier if
there were some means to calculate critical days accurately and
easily, without resorting to a long series of manual calculations
which carried a high risk of error. So, in 1909, he made available
a slide rule of his own design, with which anyone could find his
critical days quickly and surely. Along with the slide rule, he
published an instruction booklet, The Critical Days of Man
(Gittelson, 1982).
Modern biorhythm theory contains a third cycle, a 33-day
intellectual cycle, which records the rise and fall of intellectual
achievement. The existence of such a cycle was first proposed in
the 1920s by another Austrian researcher. This man was Alfred
Teltscher, a doctor of engineering and a teacher at the famed
mountain resort town of Innsbruck in Austria (Cohen, 1976).
Teltscher was fascinated by what appeared to be regular ups
and downs in the intellectual performance of many of his students.
At one time a student would be working very well and grasping
difficult material with ease. At another, for no apparent reason,
the very same student would experience great difficulties with
much simpler material. Teltscher collected performance records of
a large number of Innsbruck students, and on the basis of these,
he concluded that their intellectual performance varied according
to a 33-day cycle (Cohen, 1976).
Teltscher did not begin his research with the same kind of
theory that Fliess did, so he was not setting out to prove a
hypothesis. Rather, he closely examined his figures in an attempt
to pick out any apparent rhythm. The weakness of this approach
was that when he succeeded in finding such a rhythm, he was
unable to explain why it existed or what the causes of the
intellectual cycle might be. He then turned to his colleagues, some
of whom were medical men like Fliess and Swoboda. They
suggested that the rhythm he had observed might be regulated by
secretions of certain glands that affect the brain. In light of what
we know today about the profound effect on the brain of such
glands as the pineal and the thyroid, that early guess does not
seem too far-fetched (Gittelson, 1982).
Dr. Hobart A. Reimann, a professor at the Hahnemann
Medical College and Hospital of Philadelphia, also turned up
evidence of interest, although he was working in ignorance of
biorhythm theory. Starting in 1948, Reimann did a great deal of
pioneering work on diseases that last for periods of one to four
weeks and that sometimes occur irregularly. Reimann identified
the periodic nature of many conditions-fever, peritonitis, and
synovitis among them. In a detailed account in the Journal of the
American Medical Association for June 24, 1974, Reimann and his
colleague, Dr. Richard V. McCloskey of the Albert Einstein Medical
Center, reported on several cases of periodic fever which had
baffled scores of doctors. In one case, they found that the patient
periodically had a severe rise in temperature, complained of chills,
aching, and sweating, and showed enlargement of the spleen.
These incidents were repeated regularly, and none of the many
proposed diagnoses ware accurate. When the doctors noted that
the fever episodes tended to occur every 23 days-the length of the
physical cycle-and had no external causes, they wrote the
condition down to periodic illness (Gittelson, 1976).
In another study in 1962, physicians from the State
University of New York's Upstate Medical Center, a Veterans
Administration Hospital at Syracuse University, measured shifts
in irritability of both normal and schizophrenic persons. They did
this by gauging variations in electrical potential between separate
parts of the brain. They eventually found that the moods of both
their normal and abnormal subjects ran in 28-day cycles
(Mackenzie, 1973).
Swoboda, Fliess, and others who pursued the basic studies of
long-term rhythmic cycles and discovered the 23-day and the 28-
day rhythms attribute these fluctuations to charges and discharges
in the cell system. Scientists of today use the term biological
clocks for a variety of cyclical or rhythmical changes in the human
body. It has become a recognized fact of science that all life, down
to the single cell, is regulated by a rhythmical pulsation. It would
appear presumptuous to assume that these natural "beats" are not
of a highly organized nature. The question of whether such
basically regulated long-term rhythms can be observed and even
predetermined over periods of weeks, months, and years is most
interesting. If they can, the practical benefits of biorhythm for
every individual in all walks of life could be invaluable. (Thommen,
1973).
Wilhelm Fliess and his followers believed that the physical
rhythm originated in the muscle cells, the emotional rhythm in the
nerve cells, and the intellectual rhythm in the brain. It appears
that the pioneers of biorhythm were speculating. Given the
limited physiological knowledge of the day, their speculation was
adequate. With today's increased knowledge of the operation of
the human body and mind, it is more generally assumed that the
truth is considerably more complex. The divisions between
muscles, nerves, and brain do not appear as sharp as they once
did. However, the strong point of biorhythm theory is not that it
has been able to locate the exact source and mechanism of the
three rhythms. What has made biorhythm popular is that one can
chart the rhythms and use them to predict human feelings and
behavior. Before trying to chart biorhythms one must understand
the nature of the three basic biorhythm cycles, and the meaning of
"critical days (Cohen, 1976).
The theory of the biorhythm is based on the assumption that
there are three powerful cycles or rhythms operating within each
person. These rhythms begin at the time of one's birth. The clock
is set at that moment, and it runs regularly and inexorably until
the moment of death. Though we are generally unaware of the
operation of these cycles, they profoundly affect the way we feel
and the way we react to the circumstances which face us every
day. While the three cycles all begin at the same time (the hour of
birth), they are of different lengths. Within just a few hours after
birth, they begin to stand in a different relationship to one
another. This relationship between the three cycles constantly
changes from day to day and week to week. On a specific day in a
life, the physical cycle may be reaching a high point whereas the
emotional cycle is at a low and the intellectual cycle at midpoint or
a critical day. The relationship of these three rhythms determines
in large measure the way one will feel and react on that day
(Cohen, 1976).
According to the biorhythm hypothesis, our bodies and minds
are constantly experiencing three cyclic patterns. The physical
characteristics, such as overall strength and mechanical abilities,
are stated to undergo a 23-day (physical) cycle. The physical cycle
affects a broad range of physical factors, including resistance to
disease, strength, coordination, speed, physiology, other basic body
functions, and the sensation of physical well-being. The emotional
state changes on a 28-day (emotional) schedule. The emotional
cycle governs creativity, sensitivity, mental health, mood,
perceptions of the world and of ourselves, and, to some degree, the
sex of children conceived during different phases of the cycle. The
intellectual skills follow a 33-day (intellectual) oscillation. The
intellectual cycle regulates memory, alertness, receptivity to
knowledge, and the logical or analytical functions of the mind.
Each of the three cycles is divided into high and low phases.
The high days of the physical cycle are characterized as times of
strength, endurance, and boundless energy. This portion of the
cycle is sometimes referred to as a "discharge period," analogous to
the time when a battery is discharging electrical power, using up
its stored energy (Smith, 1976). During the low days,
characterized by relative fatigue and listlessness, the body's
muscles are supposed to be recharging for the next high phase.
This would not be a time to enter a marathon race (Palmer, 1982).
Otherwise, the cycles can conveniently be thought of as beginning
at a neutral position, climbing to a positive peak, then dropping
back down to a neutral condition at mid-cycle. At this point,
transition is made from positive to negative and in the day
corresponding to this point the person, according to the theory, is
unstable. These days of cross-over from one phase to another are
called critical days. The cycle continues through the negative
 21
period, at the end of which it is ready, once again, to make a
transition from negative to positive (Tarek, Khalil & Kurucz,
1977).
There are two critical days in each biorhythm cycle. The
first is at the beginning of the cycle and the second at the middle
of the cycle. A middle critical day begins for the physical cycle at
noon of the 12th day, for the emotional cycle at the beginning of
the 15th day, and for the intellectual cycle at the noon of the 17th
day. A critical day lasts for a period of 24 hours.
In general, interpretations of critical days revolve around two
key words: deviation and instability. The word deviation means a
departure from standard. Biorhythm research seems to indicate
that critical days are often times when a person's behavior and
actions differ from the norm for that individual. The second key
word, instability, has similar connotations, but it brings into focus
the concept of motion. In fact, the word itself infers a "wobbly" or
shaky condition, and describes the time during which the cycle is
changing direction-either from high to low or low to high.
Although there is a potential for mishap at this point in a cycle,
there is at the same time a potential for very positive results.
Critical days can be very important. On physically critical days,
persons are most likely to have accidents, catch colds, and suffer
all types of bodily harm, including death. Quarrels, fights,
depressions, and senseless frustration are typical of emotionally
critical days. When the intellectual rhythm is at the critical point,
we can expect bad judgment, difficulty in expressing things clearly,
and a general resistance to learning anything new or remembering
what we already know (Smith, 1976).
The critical days, biorhythm researchers say, should not be
faced with an attitude of fatalism, or by decisions not to get out of
bed that day. One is not foredoomed to have an accident, contract
an illness, or even make a bad decision on a critical day. What
the knowledge of critical days should do is simply raise a warning
flag (Cohen, 1976).
Critical days in themselves are not dangerous. Rather, they
are days during which the individual's reaction to his environment
may bring about a critical situation. Biorhythm does not, and
should not be expected to predict future behavior or accidents.
The way a person acts depends on what is happening to him, as
well as on the condition he happens to be in physically,
emotionally, and intellectually at a particular time. Critical days
are often compared to the moments at which we switch a light-
bulb "ON" or "OFF", since it is then that the bulb is most likely to
burnout, not when the switch is in one of its two positions or
phases (Thommen, 1973).
A distribution of single, double, and triple critical days
during a 75 year span is indicated in the Table 1. There are 80
critical days per year in a person's life.
Table 1

Biorhythmic Critical Days in the Span of 75 Years

Non-critical days 21,395

Single critical days 5,556 74 per year
Double critical days 433 6 per year
Triple critical days 10

Total days in life span 27,394

Total critical days 80 per year

Knowing the day of birth is enough to make a precise

biorhythm chart. In order to find out one's biorhythm, one must
figure out the number of days from the day on which the person
was born, until the day for which he/she wishes to know the
biorhythm. Then divide the total number of days by the number
of days in each cycle—23, 28, and 33. Each of these calculations is
done separately. The remainders show the position of each
rhythm, that is, the number of days that have passed in that
particular cycle at the first day of the month in question.
Unfortunately the rotation of our planet is not quite as even as we
might like. In order to correct this cosmic oversight add an extra
day to the month of February every fourth year. Thus, every four
years the days are 366 instead of 365, or the earth's rotation
corresponds to 365.25 days yearly. This correction is appropriate
in order to get correct results when an attempt is made to find the
remaining day of the positive or negative cycle by dividing the
days of one's life by the 23, 28 and 33 days of the biorhythm cycles
(Cohen, 1976).
There are some cases where the hour of birth is important as
well. This is because people born very late at night have
biorhythms more characteristic of the following day than of the
day officially recorded as the day of birth. There have been
several cases where biorhythm calculations always seemed to be a
day behind life events, and the explanation has been that the
person involved was born quite close to the beginning of the next
day (Gittelson 1982). Harold Willis, director of the Biorhythm
Clinic in Joplin, Missouri, stated: "The cycles don't necessarily
start in every case at the exact moment of birth. They may vary
from 12 to 24 hours. And there may be additional variation due to
psychological or physical trauma. But those variations affect only
a minority. I'd say 60 to 75 per cent of the population conforms to
the normal pattern..." (Hirsh, 1976).
Dr. Philip A. Costin, a director with a national research
agency in Canada, and Professor Douglas Neil, a researcher at the
Naval Post-graduate School in Monterey, California, believe that
biorhythms are a definite factor in our lives (Bolch, 1977).
Scientists and students of human behavior have long been
amassing evidence of their existence. Over 2400 years ago,
Hippocrates had advised his associates that regularity was a sign
of health, and that irregular body functions or habits promoted an
unhealthy condition. He counseled them to pay close attention to
fluctuations in their symptoms, to look at both good and bad days
in both their patients and healthy people (Luce 1971). In addition,
Dr. Robert Smith (1976), having strong beliefs in biorhythm
theory, describes in his book how one can predict the day of birth
and the sex of an unborn child. Furthermore, he devotes another
chapter to a discussion of biorhythm compatibility with our lives.
In Missouri Southern State College, under Willis'
supervision, attempts were made to find out exactly how the
physical rhythm might affect pilot performance. Woods and his
colleagues decided to measure the cyclical aspects of a very simple
physical response: pushing a button. Each subject in this
experiment was tested five times for his reaction speed. Each
time, he was asked to push a button ten times in quick succession.
Then, the speed of his reaction was precisely measured. The times
were then related to the subjects' biorhythm charts. The results
demonstrate one of the few laboratory-controlled proofs of
biorhythm. On the average the subjects took 5.13 seconds to push
the button ten times. When their physical rhythm was in the
negative phase, the time lengthened to 5.32 seconds; and when
they were experiencing a physically critical day, the time was 5.41
seconds. Willis himself concluded that "considering this as the
most simple movement that could be executed (by a pilot), it is
reasonable to state that the reaction time of a pilot going through
a complex series of corrective reactions would be considerably
longer, hence adding to the hazard." In short, if a pilot takes an
average of .28 of a second longer than normal to push a button ten
times on a critical day, he will take much longer than normal to
perform all the actions needed to cope with flight emergencies
(Gittelson, 1982).
A great deal of interest also exists concerning the
interrelationship of sports and biorhythms. One of the main areas
of study and developing concern is why some performers on any
given day or days are more inspired, less inspired, more effective,
or less effective. This concern has gone beyond the mystique of
such terms as momentum, hot hands, or slumps, and has sought to
explain the cycles and the rhythms of performance. Articles and
books have been written to relate biorhythms to sports in such a
way as to enable anyone to forecast and understand the reasons
for the peaks and the valleys of performance. Bernard Gittelson is
the author of Biorhythm Sports Forecasting where he uses the
biorhythm theory to explain and predict sport results (Gittelson,
1977).
 The doctor Kichinosuke Tatai (1977), member of the
Japanese Society of Psychosomatic Medicine and the Japanese
representative to the International Association for Suicide
Prevention, wrote a book Biorhythm for Health Design, in which he
combines the biorhythm theory with the autogenic training system
for health purposes.
The founders of biorhythm were fascinated by the question of
why people appear to be "accident prone" at certain times and able
to avoid possible accidents at others. A very practical reason why
biorhythm researchers have shown a great interest in accidents is
that accident statistics are relatively easy to obtain. Most
industries and most governments keep excellent records on
accidents. An individual tends to remember the exact day on
which he had a serious accident. More subtle events, like feelings
of depression or elation, are rarely remembered so clearly, and
certainly industries and governments do not keep statistics on
these feelings. As a result, biorhythm researchers have to work
with the available evidence, and sometimes it sounds as if
biorhythm is concerned exclusively or largely with accidents. This
is certainly not the case. Accidents are only a part of the picture,
but the part on which there is more hard information (Cohen,
1976).
The first attempt to correlate accidents with the biorhythm
theory was in 1939 by Hans Schwing, a student at the Swiss
Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, Switzerland. He
prepared a study relating biorhythm calculations to accident and
death statistics (Thommen, 1973; Wolcott, Mcmeekin, Burgin &
Yano witch, 1977).
Industry is paying special attention to biorhythms, which
promise a new way to cut accident rates and save money. The
heaviest users are probably the Japanese transportation
companies, a group that includes Japan Express, Seino Transport,
Yamato Transport, Japan Traffic Taxi, International Automobile
Taxi, and Odakyu Taxi. In Japan, large insurance companies
prepare charts not just for those they insure but also for those to
whom they hope to sell insurance. The biocurve graphs are used
as a way to get past the front door of the potential customer.
Nissan Motors, which has been called the General Motors of
Japan, has used the technique with great success (Gittelson, 1982).
Records kept by the Ohmi Railway Company (Japan) showed that
out of 331 accidents occurring in 5 years, 92 accidents or 28% were
on the critical day. Combining the accidents of the day previous
and the day following, the total was 59%. In discussing the results
of adopting the biorhythm process, the Ohmi Railway reports that
the Nabahama Service Center (52 regular buses and cars) is
enjoying 2,000,000 kilometers without any accident and aiming for
3,000,000 kilometers without accidents (Willis, 1972).
The Tokyo Metropolitan Police conducted a study of
biorhythm in relation to traffic accidents. The study, which was
published in 1971, indicated that 82 percent of reported accidents
in 1970 had occurred on the driver's critical day. The results of
this study led the Traffic Department, together with the Japan
Biorhythm Association, to initiate defensive driving programs
throughout Japan (Bartel, 1978).
Two student research assistants, one employed at the
Freeman Hospital, and the other at St. John's Hospital, screened
records of patients for information on accidents, medical incidents,
and deaths. Complete anonymity of all patients was assured by
the use of coded designation. Analysis of the information disclosed
the following: Using a randomized group design for 78 cases of
predicted versus actual occurrences and with a null hypothesis
stating there is no difference between the two groups, a t = 0.192
was obtained indicating a failure to reject the null hypothesis. At
the Freeman Hospital, cases show that 50% of the accidents
occurred during a critical period and 33% during a period when
two or more of the curves were in a negative state for a
biorhythmically significant total of 83%. Heart attacks and other
such medical incidents occurred during a critical period in better
than 60% of the cases (Willis, 1972).
Wycoff Company Incorporated, a small package express firm,
has been providing biorhythm charts to the 60 drivers in its
Pocatello/Idaho Falls, Idaho, terminal for the last year.
Forewarned to be extra careful on critical days, these drivers have
cut their accident rate by two thirds. AT&T in New York has
programmed its computer to produce biorhythm charts for their
own employees (Bolch, 1977). In Switzerland, the Transportation
Systems Bureau uses it in accident analysis. Swiss medical
doctors and hospitals use the theory to find the best day for
surgical operations (Mackenzie, 1973).
One of the most convincing studies supporting biorhythm
was presented at the 1975 National Safety Congress by Jacob
Sanhein of the Naval Weapons Support Center in Crane, Indiana.
He reviewed 1,308 accidents from three sources: industrial
accidents reported to the base dispensary at the weapons center;
community accidents reported to the local hospital; and, fatal,
single-source motor vehicle accidents recorded by the Indiana State
Police. He eliminated 532 cases of accidents because birth or
accident dates could not be determined accurately, or because the
accident was caused by outside forces beyond the victim's control.
Of the 776 accidents remaining, Sanhein found that 41.75%
occurred on critical days. This is about twice the normal expected
rate (Hirsh, 1976).
Major Carl A. Weaver Jr. (1974), used biorhythms to examine
Army aviation accidents for two and half years. His results
showed that 49% of the accidents clearly occurred on a critical day.
Also, he reported that there were numerous accidents not included
in the 49% which occurred when all three cycles were low or when
the incident was bracketed by critical days before and after.
M. E. Deyo (1976), director of Life Cycles Research
Foundation in Peoria, Illinois, published in The Professional Golfer
magazine, a 5 year statistical analysis (see Table 2) showing how
many PGA tournament winners were in high cycles, low cycles,
and in mixed or critical biorhythmic cycles. The results shows
about 70.2 % in high cycles, 12.72% in low cycles and 17.08% in
mixed or critical biorhythmic cycles.
Other researchers have countered with evidence against the
theory. In the East, a public utility corporation invited Rex B.
Hersey, under the kindly patronage of the Department of
Industrial Research of the University of Pennsylvania, to devote an
entire year to the observation of a group of "normal" workers. The
evidence offered by this study shows the human mind and body
functioning in long rhythmic movements that new tendencies
cannot alter. The data on which the conclusions were based were
supplied primarily by twelve men who were observed throughout
the year. A study of the list shows frequent 4, 4 1/2, 5, 5 1/2, and
6 weeks intervals in the emotional cycle. These apparently
periodic changes nearly always run within one week of the
worker's own average. In other words, if a usual cycle is five
weeks, the actual cycle could be from four to six weeks. But
almost never, so far as could be noted, in spite of all the buffets of
Table 2

Biorhythms of PGA Tournament Winners: 1971-1975

Year Positive cycle Negative cycle Mixed critical

Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent
1971 29 69.0% 4 9.5% 9 21.5%
1972 35 72.0% 7 14.0% 7 14.0%
1973 30 61.0% 9 18.0% 10 21.0%
1974 34 74.0% 6 13.0% 6 13.0%
1975 33 75.0% 4 9.1% 7 15.9%
Total 70.2% 12.72% 17.08%

Number of single: high 81

Number of double high 38
Number of triple high 7
Number of double low 11
Number of triple low 3

misfortune, in spite of difficulties at home, in spite of great

pleasure and unusual success, does this periodicity depart more
than one week either way from its norm. The number of workers
was not sufficient to warrant generalization. Hersey said that he
was able to forecast the general appearance of his own low periods,
with advantage to himself. The cycle was running between 5 1/2
and 6 1/2 weeks (Hersey, 1931). His findings were published in
his book Workers' Emotions in Shop and Home. Hersey produced
another book on cyclical behavior published by Harper and
Brothers in 1955 under the title Zest for Work (Thommen, 1973).
In opposition to biorhythms is John Palmer, professor of
physiology at the University of Massachusetts. He believes that
the biorhythm hypothesis is inconsistent with scientifically
documented knowledge of all other cycles in living creatures. The
assertion that the cycles are exactly 23, 28, and 33 days long in
everyone runs contrary to what genetics teaches us. Variability
among individuals is the rule. Consider the menstrual cycle: It
averages 29.5 days in length but varies from about 10 to as much
as 55 days among individual women. Furthermore, there is no
logical reason for all three biorhythms to start together on the day
of birth. Why not when egg and sperm fuse or at the moment the
embryo implants in the uterus? Other known biological cycles
often do not start at birth. The daily metabolic rhythm of the
chick begins fourteen days before it hatches; the human daily
rhythm of sleeping and wakefulness does not begin until many
weeks after birth. Also, if biorhythms did start in unison as a
child exits from the birth canal, the consequences should be dire.
By definition, this would be a triple-critical day! And within the
next seventeen days the newborn would experience three more
critical days, for a total of six critical points in just over two
weeks. Not a good augury for infant survival (Palmer, 1982).
Roy Blount Jr. (1978) came with evidence that Gittelson was
not always accurate in what he wrote in his books on biorhythms.
He claims that Gittelson changes the actual days of events in
order to coincide with critical days.
Three researchers from Laurentian University studied four
hundred mining accidents (each serious enough to require medical
aid) that occurred over nine months. They found that 22.7 percent
of the accidents happened on individuals' critical days. That 22.7
percent of mine accidents occurred on the miners' critical days is
just about what chance would produce (Palmer, 1982). In Canada,
the Workmen's Compensation Board of British Columbia studied
its records of lost-time occupational accidents during the first four
months of 1971-more than 13,000 cases. Keith Mason, the
Board's research statistician, makes the conclusion: "The results
indicate that accidents are no more Ukely to occur during so called
critical periods than at any other time" (Nelson, 1976).
An extensive study for 880 U.S. Air Force accidents and for
4,279 previously reported cases conducted by Major J. Wolcott
(Aerospace Pathology Division) concluded that no correlation was
found between any aspect of the biorhythm theory and the
occurrence of aircraft accidents. His conclusion was that
individuals do have "good" and "bad" days; their occurrence,
however, is not predictable by the biorhythm theory (Wolcott,
Mcmeekin, Burgin & Yanowitch, in press).
A Master's thesis in the Naval Postgraduate School in
Monterey had as its subject the biorhythm criticality and its
influence on human error and accidents based on data from 4336
naval aircraft mishaps in the Fiscal Years 1968-1973. The study
revealed that there is no significant influence from biorhythms by
straight-forward application of critical days as observed in previous
research. It concluded that criticality of accidents in general could
not be observed for pilots, possibly because of the high qualitative
selectivity of this group (Sacher, 1974).
Another study conducted by J. Donnelly, D. Brooks, and R.
Taylor (1977) had as its purpose to determine if a relationship
existed between biorhythms and human performance. The subjects
were volunteers from varsity athletic teams and physical education
general program classes. Analysis for interaction was completed
between the three cycles. They concluded that although a real
difference existed within the intellectual cycle for whole body
reaction and performance times, this evidence alone is inconclusive
and insufficient to support the theory of biorhythms as it relates to
human performance. Until supportive evidence is presented, the
biorhythm theory will serve no value to either coach, instructor, or
behavioral scientist in predicting fluctuations in human
performance.
 Biorhythms are similar to accepting or rejecting the daily
weather forecast. The forecast cannot be proven. But it is too
useful and important in the life of an individual to neglect or
refuse to accept. Nor is one too concerned if the weather forecast
is not completely reliable. One may carry his raincoat tomorrow
when, in fact, the sun will shine brightly. However, one still feels
rewarded in that one was prepared for the event of rain. One also
knows the next forecast is quite likely to be valid (Smith, 1976).
Even if biorhythm theory is not scientifically infallible, it still
can be useful to people. Learning to recognize and compensate for
our "bad" days, and to take advantage of our "good" days (whether
or not they are absolutely predictable) will help us discipline
ourselves for the task at hand. And, of course, it can be fun. Few
of us really believe that our fate is written in the stars but all of
us read our horoscopes (Bigham, 1975).
We are so familiar with some of the main rhythms of life
(sleeping, waking, menstruation, etc.) that we organize our
personal activities to fit in with them. It is probably not the case,
however, that social organizations take these things into account
to any greater extent than having employment organized around
an eight hour working day. If we understood more about the
effects of rhythms and how to manipulate them, there might well
be more opportunities for increases both in efficiency of work and
in enjoyment of leisure (Colquhoun, 1976).
 Pilots in major airlines have been scheduled to spend a lot of
days, even a week or longer, on international flights. This
schedule consists of long duty hours and multiple crossings of time
zones. As result, the pilot's biological rhythms are disrupted,
which leaves their flying skills for handling any uncommon or
dangerous situations impaired. FAA officials acknowledge that
disrupted biological rhythms could be a problem in scheduling
aircrew, but they lack definitive scientific data that would show
how to write regulations or devise schedules to address the
problem (Stockton, 1988). The biorhythm theory could provide
evidence to support appropriate schedule rules in order to confront
the current condition. Public opinion is very sensitive concerning
aviation accidents which are usually tragedies since there are few,
if any survivors. Pilots' lives are a life of deadlines. They are
under constant pressure to maintain a public relations image.
Also, they are working under threat of immediate media spotlight
in the event of an incident or accident.
In summary, a review of the research shows that biological
rhythms are just beginning to be understood in their importance in
our lives. Perhaps our future activity will be regulated to take
advantage not only of the high point in our daily cycle, but also of
the individual differences in rhythm. Biorhythms do not predict
what will happen. All they do is tell us our tendency to behave in
certain ways at certain times. If we are informed about the
tendency, we can usually overcome it by awareness and will-power.

Statement of the Hypothesis

According to Birthdate Biorhythm Theory, the well-being of
pilots is influenced by the phase of three biorhythmic cycles.
Consequently, it is hypothesized that the days of accidents are
highly related to the critical days and to the low phase of body
rhythm. As a result, the consideration of the critical days and the
body phase, when scheduling pilots, will minimize the number of
aviation accidents.
 39

Method
Subjects
The samples for this study were selected from the total
population of Hellenic Air Force pilots who were involved in fatal
aircraft accidents during the period from 1972 to 1989. A list of
names, birthdates, and the dates of the accidents was requested
from the History Office of the Hellenic Air Force. A book including
all the aviation accidents between 1908 and 1984 was received.
The book, called the Journal of Fallen Pilots (1908-1984) (Air
Force, 1984) contains descriptions of each pilot killed such as:
name, rank, place and date of birth, dates of education at the Air
Academy, and rank upon graduation. The document also show the
place and date of accident, the pilot's squadron, the type of aircraft
involved, and the type of mission at the time of the accident. An
additional list of accidents from 1984 to 1989 was gathered by
personal research. From the total population, each accident case
was examined separately. Specifically, accidents involving pilots
who had flown single and dual seat jet aircraft and had reacted
improperly even though they had enough time to implement the
proper procedures were selected. Therefore, accidents which did
not involve mechanical malfunctions were the first consideration.
In these accidents, the primary cause was pilot error in operation
or decision making.
 40
In dual seat aircraft, the captain is defined by the Air Force
as being exclusively responsible for the mission and safety of the
aircraft even if the co-pilot was flying at the time of the accident.
Also, this is the researcher's opinion. Thus, the captain is the
sample for this study and is considered to be the only crew
member aboard the aircraft. To avoid any possible sampling bias
in choosing accidents, the dominant characteristic of sample pilots
was that each had a minimum of two minutes to react. Thus, the
pilot's decision was affected according to the birthdate biorhythm
theory. In addition, the researcher established more restrictions in
choosing the samples. In the opinion of the researcher, Air Force
missions that are dangerous in nature should be examined in
separate studies. If not, accidents in accordance with a dangerous
task could affect the results of a study. Consequently, Air Force
exercises conducted under 500 feet, field target exercises, violations
of flight rules in low altitude (acrobatic maneuvers), and low
aircraft type experience (transition flights) are classified as
dangerous and are excluded from this study. The above cases are
excluded because the accident may have been caused by a pilot
who was inexperienced (low log book hours), who lacked training
in the type of mission attempted, flight leader error, or supervision
error. Also, excluded from this study are accidents where the pilot
ejected and was killed due to the parachute malfunction.
However, violations in high altitude are included because the
available reaction time is enough to give any pilot the opportumty
to recover the aircraft or to eject.
"Aircraft accident" according to the Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) means an occurrence associated with the
operation of an aircraft which takes place between the time any
person boards the aircraft with the intention of flight and all such
persons have disembarked, and in which any person suffers death
or serious injury, or in which the aircraft receives substantial
damage. For a biorhythm study, a biorhythm accident is defined
as any involuntary deviation of ground or flight rules recorded by
any Aviation Safety Department or similar aviation departments.
These records should include unconscious actions that result in
violations of flight rules, not following proper procedures, pilot
disorientation, damage to equipment, and harm to human beings.
The total sample size for this study is 33 pilots who were
killed in the type of accidents described in the "Analysis" section of
this study. This sample was derived from a total pool of 51 fatal
pilots' accidents for the same period of time (1972-1989).
The subjects' birth times are unknown. According to
biorhythm theory, the specific time of birth and accident is
required for a critical day computation. Thus, the researcher had
to make assumptions about the times of the subjects' births. A
valid assumption is a documented research on time of birth. Thus,
a study has been found which encompasses the onset of 207,918
spontaneous labors and 2,082,453 natural births. The study found
that the initiation of painful contractions and/or the rupture of the
fetal membranes (signified by the release of the "waters") begins
most commonly at night. Then, it concluded that the peak in birth
rate occurs between 01:00 and 07:00 a.m. (Palmer, 1976).
Therefore, for the purposes of this study it is accepted that the
birth time of pilots is between 01:00 and 07:00 a.m.

Instrument
For this study, the instrument is a computer program that is
capable of organizing and analyzing data related to the subjects'
birthdate biorhythm cycles. Specifically, this program was selected
from five available biorhythm programs and is able to calculate the
biorhythm cycles for any accident day. It can depict precisely, in
graphic format the cycles for any number of days before, to any
number of days after the date of the accident, and print this data.
There is one vertical axis that represents critical days. The
biorhythms are drawn on both sides of this axis. The left side
depicts the low phase of the biorhythm cycle and the right side
depicts the high phase of the biorhythm cycle. The extreme left
and right points are the nadir and zenith of the cycles that
characterize the negative or positive well-being of the subjects.
After the implementation of the computer program was completed,
extensive testing ensured the validity of the program. The
 43
researcher computed the biorhythm cycles for two samples with a
calculator and then with the computer program. Also, similar
computer programs were used for the same purpose. The results
compared perfectly with each other, thereby confirming the validity
and reliability of the program. Extended research was made in
the market to find an appropriate program for biorhythms. This
computer program was found in a public domain bulletin board. It
was compared with five other similar programs and was chosen for
the specific characteristics that were appropriate for this study.
The characteristics and the modifications of the computer program
are widely explained in the section that follows the instrument
section.
The program was administered by the researcher to the
Hellenic Air Force data in order to plot the biorhythm curves on
the date of the accident. Input was the pilot's birthdate and the
date of the accident. Output was a graph of biorhythm cycles that
showed the well-being of the pilot for the day of accident. The
result based on the interpretation of the graph which depicts the
critical day, the zenith, the nadir, and the intermediate situation
corresponded to the well-being of each subject on the date of the
accident. The researcher wrote in each biorhythm chart the
symbol "accident" to show the exact day of the accident and put
the initial of biorhythm cycle to show the name of the nearest
critical day biorhythm cycle.
 The graphical representations of the biorhythm curves were
used to support the analysis. Other considerations on the
computer program are given in the following section.
Statistics were used for drawing a conclusion about a
population based on information contained in a sample. For this
study, the standardized statistic test for proportions is used for
statistical analysis. The test of hypothesis about a proportion is
based on knowledge of the sampling distribution. The decision
was made by comparing the sample value for the test statistic for
proportion with a critical value. This test is a one-tailed test. The
null hypothesis is rejected if the test statistic value is greater than
the critical value (Anderson, Sweeney, & Williams, 1987).
Whether the value of the standardized test statistic accident
proportion is significant is determined by consulting the areas of
the standard normal curve table in the textbook, A Programmed
Introduction to Statistics (Elzey, 1971).

Design
This study utilizes historical data and analyzes past events, such
as dates of accidents and pilots' birthdates, to explain present
events and anticipate future events. The design involves one
group which consists of the Hellenic Air Force pilots. The group is
homogeneous because the subjects received the same academic
education and flight training. Another common characteristic of
this group is that each one has been involved in an accident. The
date of this characteristic correlated to the date of birth, according
to the Birthdate Biorhythm Theory. Since the biorhythm theory
has three independent cycles (variables), the analysis refers to
each one separately and to their interrelationship as well.
The sources for this study are primary sources and consist of
pilots, official records from original documents and reports by
actual participants, or direct observers in accidents. These records
are kept by the Hellenic Air Force. The analysis of the accidents
consists of the researcher's opinion for the specific purpose of this
study and do not necessarily correspond to the Hellenic Air Force's
accident investigation findings.
The pilot's age is not disclosed because this information is
classified. The study keeps the real data separate and presents
the unclassified data. The results are presented in graphic format
and in statistical tables. These results include the numbers of
accidents, the phases in positive or negative periods, and critical,
as well as non-critical days.
Other sources for this study are secondary sources that
include newspapers, articles, and reports by relatives of actual
participants or observers. Most of this data was available to the
researcher because it was obtained during his active duty tour in
the Hellenic Air Force.
The data are authentic because the sources are pilots' records
and official records which the Hellenic Air Force keeps for its own
purposes. To determine the accuracy of the data, a cross check
was made between these primary and secondary sources.
The study follows the biorhythm theory concepts, but it also
describes elements of the concepts with one other point of view.
The biorhythm theory elements described possess a different
function. The results remain as the theory demands. The
researcher, through the review of literature, found that the
biorhythm theory was not clearly depicted and defined. As a
theory it is easy to understand; however, few pay attention to
meticulous explanations. While analyzing the data, the researcher
identified different functions of the biorhythm elements.
Therefore, it seems appropriate that these elements be elucidated
since this study is based upon them.

Adjustments to Biorhythm Theory

Middle Critical Day

Many authors of biorhythm theory state that each cycle
changes from the positive to negative and vise versa at the exact
half of the cycle (Gittelson, Thommen, Cohen & Smith). In other
words, the physical cycle changes on 11.5 days, the emotional on
14 days, and the intellectual on 16.5 days. This appears to be a
wrong assumption because each first critical day of a cycle should
 47
include a 24 hour period instead of a 12 hour period. The
researcher, after meticulous analysis of the biorhythm cycle
function in relation to the biorhythm days, finds that the changes
of the cycles (physical, emotional and intellectual) do not coincide
exactly with the half cycle period but one day after half of the
cycle. These findings are depicted in Table 3.
The following helps explain the findings of the middle
cycle biorhythm day: The researcher first plotted the biorhythmic
days of each cycle (plotting more days than belong to the
individual cycle). Each biorhythmic day corresponds to a number.
For example, the 4th biorhythmic day corresponds to the number
4, the 5th day corresponds to the number 5 and so on. These
numbers (biorhythmic days) are depicted in the second row of each
biorhythm cycle (see Table 3). Then, the first critical day (starting
point of the cycle) of two consecutive biorhythm cycles are
designated by holding and underlining them. The letters (P, E, or
I) of the appropriate biorhythm cycle have been placed under these
days. Next, the remaining biorhythm days from the first cycle
were numbered (first row) in such a way that the middle critical
day corresponds equally to one common number. Thus, the middle
critical day (second row) will appear under this common number
(first row). In other words, the first row numbers ascend at the
beginning of the cycle towards to middle and descend at the end of
the cycle towards to middle of the cycle. This condition forces the
Table 3

Middle Critical Period

Middle critical days on the physical cycle

12345678 9 10 11 11 10 9 8 7 6 54 32 1 12 +
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 1 2 3 +
P PP P

The day of birth is a critical day; therefore, each first day of a cycle is
a critical day. The second critical day is in the middle of the cycle which is
in the second half of the 12th day and the first half of the 13th day because
it is the exact half way point of the physical cycle.

Middle critical days on the emotional cycle

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 13 12 11 10 98 76 54 3 2 1 12
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 1 2 3
E E E

The day of birth is a critical day; therefore, each first day of a cycle is
a critical day. The 15th day is the second critical day because it is the exact
half way point of the emotional cycle.

Middle critical days on the intellectual cycle

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 1
I II I

The day of birth is a critical day; therefore, each first day of a cycle is
a critical day. The second critical day is in the middle of the cycle which is
in the second half of the 17th day and the first half of the 18th day because
it is the exact half of the intellectual cycle.
 49
numbers to converge in one common number which is bold-faced
and underlined. Thus, the middle critical day of each biorhythm
cycle appears under this common number which has been put in
bold and underlined. Again, the appropriate initials of the
biorhythm cycle have been put under each middle critical day.
The results were verified by the following calculations: First,
two days were subtracted from each biorhythm cycle because there
are two critical days in any biorhythm cycle (one at the beginning
and the other at the middle). The remaining days were divided
equally (division by two) in order to show the number of days that
correspond to the positive and negative side of the cycle. Thus, the
number of a middle critical day is the number which represents
the positive or negative days of the cycle, plus the first critical day.
A common mistake is that the number of positive or negative days
is added algebraically with the first or second critical day. It will
never be a mistake if the numbers have the same value of the
days. Thus, an integer number is exactly the number of the day,
and any fraction is the fraction of the following day. As example,
the numbers 7 or 8 correspond to the seventh or eighth day and
the numbers 7.5 or 8.75 correspond to the eighth day until noon or
the ninth day until 18:00 p.m.

The described middle critical findings coincide exactly with

the fundamentals of the biorhythm theory. In other words, each
cycle starts with a critical day for a 24 hour period, and the days
between the first critical day and the middle critical day are equal.
The consideration that the middle critical day occurs at the
exact half of the cycle forces the first critical day to be divided into
a 12 hour period at the beginning of the cycle and a 12 hour period
at the end of the cycle. That, however, is impossible by definition
of biorhythm theory which accepts the day of birth to be a critical
day for a 24 hour period. If we accept the middle of the critical
day as the exact half period of the cycle, then the cycle starts with
a critical day of 12 hours. By accepting the start of a critical day
as 12 hours, questions arise as to why the following critical days
have a 24 hour period. Or, if a person at his day of birth, which is
the most vulnerable and critical period of his life, ends a cycle
within 12 hours, why then does this situation change and follow a
24 hour critical period pattern? How is it possible, in accepting a
cycle pattern on biorhythms, that the cycle does not finish at the
point which it started, thereby completing all functions? Or is it
necessary to believe that the unfinished condition of the cycle
presents a 12 hour period before the actual hour of birth and if it
is so, why is it not mentioned that biorhythm cycles start 12 hours
before the birth hour and that the critical day continues for
another 12 hours? The possible explanation of this phenomenon is
that no one has examined the effect of this situation in depth,
believing that to find a middle critical day is good enough if the
total numbers of the biorhythm cycle are divided.
 In conclusion, the researcher accepts the findings that the
physical cycle changes at the second half of 12th day, the
emotional cycle changes at the 15th day, and the intellectual
changes at the second half of the 17th day. Under these
acceptances the critical day for the physical and the intellectual
cycle starts from the second half of the first day and continues for
the first half of the following day. This was shown (see Table 3)
by the capital letter "P" under the 12th and 13th day of the
physical cycle and the letter "I" under the 17th and 18th day of
the intellectual cycle. The starting point of a middle critical day
is the 12:00 noon and continues until 12:00 noon of the following
day in order to complete a 24 hour period. For the emotional cycle
the middle critical day coincides with the 15th actual biorhythmic
day.
The results of this analysis suggest that a critical day is not
a 24 hour real day because it almost never coincides with a
calendar day (except in rare cases of birth at the exact hour 00:00
midnight). It exists with the first day of any biorhythm cycle and
a middle emotional critical day if it refers to biorhythm day but
never with the middle critical day of the physical and the
intellectual cycle. The researcher proposes to establish the
expression of critical period or critical hours that will represent
the actual critical time so the average reader will not confuse them
with the calendar days. Also, there is not a "critical day" because
the length of a "critical period" depends on the specific individual
characteristics. Thus, in this study, a "critical day" will be
referred to as "critical period."

The Function of a Biorhythm Cycle.

It is important to know the function of a biorhythm cycle in
order to understand the biorhythm theory. Many authors claim
that the biorhythm cycle has a sinusoidal shape and is depicted in
that way. Also, they explain that the day which crosses the base
line is called a critical period (critical day). This means that the
biorhythm days have a progressive (continuous) movement, and
especially a critical period, from the upper positive side to the
negative side and vice versa. Thus, a critical period during its
existence possesses elements of the positive and the negative phase
of the cycle (and vise versa). Then, the authors explain the
characteristics of the critical period. This again seems to be not
exactly accurate. The researcher has devised a modified
explanation for the biorhythm cycle function and suggests a
different shape of the biorhythm cycle. Figure 1 depicts the
biorhythm cycle as it is represented by many authors. Figure 2
shows the function of a biorhythm cycle under the researcher's
assumption. The researcher suggests a different way to represent
and explain the operation of a critical period because the present
function contradicts the positive or negative elements of the cycle.
 53

Low Critical day

Low Neutral Line

Critical day 24 Hours Critical Period X < — Researcher assumption

X <--

Critical day 24 Hours Critical Period <— Researcher assumption

Critical day 24 Hours Critical Period <-- Researcher assumptio

Critical day -> X 24 Hours Critical Period X < — Researcher assumption

P X <--
P I
P I
P I

Figure 1. The Shape of a

Figure 2. The Shape of the
Theoretical Biorhythm Cycle Researcher's Biorhythm Cycle
These elements belong to it with the present description, but they
do not give the critical characteristics. If one does not reject the
critical day as the critical period, then there is an obligation to
find another operation to describe the criticality of the period and
to depict its shape on the biorhythm cycle.
It should be mentioned that, at this point, the researcher did
not try to modify the theory but tried to explain how the critical
period should work. Therefore, the critical period has the
properties that are given by the biorhythm theory, and it will be
consistent with the theory. Following is the researcher's opinion
for the function and depiction of the critical period.
The first day of the cycle is a critical period, so it should not
be in the positive or negative phase (side) for a period of 24 hours.
The positions that a critical period remains in during these 24
hours should be expressed in points not belonging to a positive or
negative phase. The researcher proposes to call it a neutral points
line or neutral line and the biorhythm function corresponding to a
person in these points a neutral state. As long as the critical
period remains in this neutral points line, a mixture of positive
and negative characteristics coexist and interact with each other.
None of these characteristics will be strong enough to overcome
the other. In other words, any day that lies on this line is a
critical period. When 24 hours have passed, the positive
characteristics start to overcome the negative, and the positive
 55
phase begins. This change could not be an exact 24 hour
measurement because it depends on each individual's specific
characteristics. Additionally, genetics teaches us that variability
among individuals is the rule (Palmer, 1982).
At the beginning of the second day, the status changes and
the second day belongs in the positive phase of the cycle. The
following days continue to belong in the positive phase until
reaching the zenith and then return to the neutral state. Again,
the positive and the negative characteristics will coexist for 24
hours, and this is the second critical period of the cycle. During
the period of 24 hours which contains "neutral characteristics," the
biorhythm cycle will not increase but will remain on the "neutral
line." After the 24 hours, the negative characteristics will
dominate the person, and the low phase starts. The negative
characteristics reach their peak at the nadir and then decrease
until the neutral state is once again reached, and a new biorhythm
cycle begins. The neutral state function can be compared to the
function of the heat of fusion where the absorbed energy is used to
change uie status of ice at zero degree Celsius to water at zero
degree Celsius or vice versa. The neutral state performs the same
function. Neutral states exist as long as a 24 hour period; this
time is needed to overcome the change from positive characteristics
to negative or vice versa and begin the positive or negative phase
in correspondingly critical periods. The key point in this situation
is that the person in the neutral state has no strong personality.
This is the reason why the researcher believes an accident could
occur during a critical period.

Biorhythmic Dav and Calendar Days

According to biorhythm theory, the biorhythm cycles start at
the time of birth. Thus, the calendar day does not usually coincide
with the biorhythm day because the birth hour is different than
that of the calendar day. The calendar day always begins at
midnight (00:00 a.m.), but the 00:00 hour of the biorhythm day can
begin at any hour of the calendar day (but it should be considered
as 00:00 hour). Accordingly, any study of biorhythms must follow
the biorhythm days and not the calendar days.
For this study an attempt was made at finding the exact
birth hour of the subjects but this information was not on the
records of the Hellenic Air Force documents. Consequently, this
study had to follow the calendar days instead of biorhythm days,
with the assumption that a high percentage of births occurs from
just after midnight through the early morning hours (01:00 to
07:00) (Palmer, 1976). Therefore, it is necessary to study
similarities or differences between the biorhythm day and the
calendar day. These considerations are unavoidable so that a
determination can be made of whether an accident occurred on a
critical period or not. Also, these considerations apply not only to
this particular study but could be used for the subjects of any
biorhythm study based on the same assumptions.
Similarities of a biorhythm day with a calendar day are
displayed in Table 4. These similarities are for subjects who were
born after midnight or early in the morning hours. The biorhythm
and calendar day of these subjects almost coincide. The actual
difference between them (a couple of hours) does not affect the
study. The depiction of calendar and biorhythm days, in Table 4
shows the coincidence of these days. The recorded accidents
represent missions after 08:30 a.m. Thus, for these pilots the
difference of birth time in the early morning hours of the calendar
day does not conflict with the actual critical period of a biorhythm
day and does not affect the results of the study.
The subjects whose biorhythms advance one calendar day is
depicted by Table 5. These are subjects who were born in the
afternoon or in the evening of any calendar day. Their biorhythm
day includes more than half of the hours or activity period of the
following calendar day or could be said to advance one calendar
day. There is no actual advancement in calendar days because
their daily activities fall within their biorhythm day. Thus, to
obtain the most valid data, biorhythm days should be used
exclusively. If calendar days are used for a biorhythm study, then
both calendar days should be included. If the actual birth hour is
unknown, then accidents that happen on the following calendar
 58
Table 4

Biorhythm Dav Coincides with a Calendar Dav

Calendar days

Calendar days 1 2 3 4
I ..* | __* | ..* | „* | .*__

Hours 00:00 I 00:00 I 00:00 I 00:00 I 00:00

I I I I
I I I I
Biorhythm days I I 1 2 1 3 1
I | | |
Hours 00:00 00:00 00:00 00:00

Note: Subjects have been born during the early morning hours on
a calendar day. Biorhythm day almost coincides with the calendar
day.

day could be included in the critical period (critical day) and

accidents that happen on the calendar day that coincides with the
biorhythm day could be included as well. If the birth hour is close
to midnight, then the following calendar day will almost coincide
with the biorhythm day. These subjects will always advance one
 59
Table 5

Biorhythm Dav Advance One Calendar Day.

Calendar days 1 2 3 4 5
| | *.. | *.. , *__ | *__ |

Hours 00:00 00:00 00:00 I 00:00 I

I I
I I
Biorhythm days 2 1 3 1

Hours 00:00 00:00 00:00 00:00

Note. Subjects have been born in the afternoon or in the evening

hours during a calendar day. The biorhythm day almost
corresponds to the following day because it includes more than half
the hours of the following calendar day.

calendar day. However, when using the biorhythm day (the date
and the exact hour of birth) for calculation, there will never be a
day advancement.
 Computer Biorhythm Program Design
It is appropriate to illustrate the design of the computer
program and present the added symbols by the researcher in order
that the computer biorhythm cycle design (shape) and the accident
selection procedure can be easily understood. The following
explanations concern the biorhythm computer program and the
depiction of its own specific characteristics (symbols and functions)
as they are represented in the graph in Figure 3.
The biorhythm computer program divides the biorhythm
cycle into "Low," "Neutral Line" and "High" in order to depict the
positive phase, neutral points line, and negative phase of the cycle
respectively. The "Neutral Line" symbol represents a vertical axis
and corresponds to any critical period. The biorhythm theory
states that biorhythm cycles start from the day of birth. This day
is considered critical for all the biorhythm cycles. It is considered
appropriate to mention the difference between the terms calendar
day and biorhythm day as it is depicted in the graphs of Table 4
and Table 5. The rule of the critical period applies for any first
day that the biorhythm cycle begins (rising to the positive phase)
through the rest of the subject's life. Thus, the program starts
with the depiction of a critical period at the day of birth. This day
is depicted with the symbol "xx" on the vertical axis. The same
symbol "x" is used by the program to show the coincidence of two
or three biorhythm cycles during the wave-like pattern.
 61

Neutral Line High

Sun 1 P, E, I X
P, E, I X
Mon 2 I XP
I IEP
Tue 3 I I EP
I I E P
Wed 4 I IE P
I I E P
Thu 5 I I E P
I I E P
Fri 6 I I E P
I I EP
Sat 7 I IEP
I IX
Sun 8 I XE
I PX
Mon 9 I P EI
! P EI
Tue 10 I P E I
I P E I
Wed 11 I P E I
I P E I
Thu 12 I P E I
P X E I
Fri 13 P X E I
P I E I
Sat 14 P I E I
P IE I
Sun 15 E P X I
E P X I
Mon 16 P E l l
P E l l
Tue 17 P E II
I P E X
Wed 18 I P E X
P E I I
Thu 19 P E I I
P E I I
Fri 20 X I I
E P I I
Sat 21 E P I I
E IP I
Sun 22 E I P I
E I P I
Mon 23 EI P I
EI P I
Tue 24 P IE X
P IF X
Wed 25 I E I P
I E I P
Thu 26 I E I P
I E I P
Fri 27 I E I P
I E I P
Sat 28 I E l P
I El P
Sun 29 E I X P
E I X P
Mon 30 I IE P
I I E P
Tue 31 I I E P
I I E P
Wed 1 I I E P
I I EP
Thu 2 I I P E
II P E
Fri 3 I X P E
1 X P E
Sat 4 I I P E
P X I E
Sun 5 P X I E
P I I E
Mon 6 P I I E
P I I E
Tue 7 P I IE
P I E I
Wed 8 P | E I

Figure 3. The Shape of the Computerized Biorhythm Cycles.

 The biorhythm cycles are formed with the initial letters of
each biorhythm cycle that it represents. Thus, there are the
letters P, E and I which correspond to the physical, emotional, and
intellectual cycle.
The program adds a line to each day in order to depict
clearly the situation of critical period starting from the middle of
the day. Thus, at the computer biorhythm graph, a critical period
"x" can be seen in the vertical axis on an exact day to which it
corresponds or on the next line, and in two consecutive days,
because the critical period continues the next day for the first half.
The significance of "x" at the added line is that the critical period
begins at the second half of the corresponding day, and it
continues the next day as in the graph depiction. Thus, the
researcher suggests that the "xx" when corresponding to the
vertical axis, has the meaning that "a critical 24 hours period
exists."
The biorhythm cycles that include one critical biorhythm day
(critical period) in two consecutive calendar days are the physical
and the intellectual cycles. This situation exists only for the
middle critical period on these cycles as was explained in the
"Middle Critical Day" section. The researcher inserted the initial
P, E and / of the appropriate biorhythm cycle close to the calendar
days. The simple form of the two initials of the biorhythm cycle
shows a 24 hours period or one biorhythm critical day period.
These symbols are depicted on the first critical period closest to
the day of accident.

Assertions and Assumptions

The data for this study were interpreted under the following
rules:
a. The three biorhythm cycles begin at the instant of one's
birth, and then follow exact, wave-like patterns for the rest of
one's life.
b. The periodicity of biorhythm cycles is independent of
external events. They do not restart under crucial events for the
subject.
c. The weakest and most vulnerable moments occur when
each cycle remains on the base line (neutral state), before
switching from the positive to the negative phase or vice versa. It
is at this period that one can expect the subject to be in the most
accident prone condition. The days where the cycles continue on
the neutral line are known in biorhythm theory as critical periods
(critical days).
d. The researcher accepts and calculates the critical periods
according to his own findings. Thus, a critical period begins for
the physical cycle at noon of the 12th day, for the emotional cycle
at the beginning of the 15th day, and for the intellectual cycle at
noon of the 17th day. The critical period lasts at least 24 hours.
 e. The researcher assumes and accepts that the subjects
birth hour is between 01:00 to 07:00 a.m. (Palmer, 1976). In other
words, the subjects' biorhythm day almost coincides with the
calendar day and continues to be critical until the same hour of
the next calendar day. A critical period begins at the calendar
critical day (period) and at the exact hour of birth.
f. The researcher accepts that there is not a trigger or a
switch governing one's life which instantly alters his personal
characteristics. Only computers and/or machines have cut-off
points to alter their work load automatically. Therefore, the
researcher accepts that the function of one's critical period could
begin and end a few hours early or late, rather than following a
precise cut-off hour and minute. The exact hours that personal
characteristics advance or delay depend on a specific individual's
characteristics. Willis has the same opinion that the exact hour
depends on the individual's characteristics. This time period is
also explained on the section of "The Function of a Biorhythm
Cycle." Included in this study is one subject with the time of
accident two hours and 25 minutes before critical period, and two
subjects that had the accident on the following day with an
interval of three and twelve hours after the birth time respectively.
The following paragraphs provide further explanations for these
subjects.
 65
g. The biorhythm analysis shows that two subjects had
accidents one calendar day after their critical calendar day. These
pilots were killed at 10:00 a.m. and 19:06 p.m. of the next calendar
day. First, these subjects coincide with the researcher's
assumption of one calendar day advancement. Secondly, the times
of 10:00 and 19:06 are accepted because the interval between the
hours of 07:00 a.m. (end of the biorhythm critical period) and the
hours of 10:00 a.m. and 19:06 of the next calendar day are no more
than 12 hours, so the critical state continued until this hour.
Explanations have previously been given regarding the one
calendar critical day (period) advancement. Under the
considerations of one day advancement, in paragraphs (e) and (f)
and in "The Function of a Biorhythm Cycle" section, the researcher
includes both pilots in the standard test statistic for proportion
method.
h. The researcher accepts one subject from the previous day.
This subject was killed at 22:35 on the previous day. The interval
that coincides with the actual emotional critical calendar day (the
following day) is just one hour and 25 minutes (22:35 time of
accident and 00:00 begins the calendar critical day) early. The
reason that is described in paragraph (f) of this section explains
why his emotional critical state begins a couple of hours before the
actual calendar day. Also, the same pilot was 25 hours and 25
minutes short beginning a physical critical period (almost in a
double critical period).
i. The captain, in dual seat aircraft, is the sample for this
study and is considered to be the only crew member aboard the
aircraft since he is defined by the Air Force as being exclusively
responsible for the mission and safety of the aircraft even if the co-
pilot was flying at the time of the accident.

Procedure
At the beginning of this study, the researcher obtained a list
of names, birthdates, and the dates of the accidents from the
Department of History of the Hellenic Air Force for fighter pilots
who have been involved in aviation accidents and were killed. For
each subject, the researcher calculated the three biorhythm cycles,
and then printed them. A graph appears for each subject. The
results were acquired by the interpretation of the graphs. Then,
the standardized statistic test for proportion was used to test the
null hypothesis.
Accidents on a critical period were displayed in table form.
The accidents were represented in two major categories, and each
category included two sub-categories. The first category included
critical period accidents and the type of critical period (beginning
or middle). Another table shows critical period accidents and the
phases of the biorhythm cycles. The second category shows the
types of critical period accidents during instrument flights with
VFR or IFR conditions. Also, night flights were included in this
category since most of them are instrument flights conducted
under VFR or IFR conditions. "VFR conditions" means weather
conditions equal to or better than the minimum for flight under
visual flight rules. "IFR condition" means weather conditions
below the minimum for flight under visual flight rules (FAA
definitions). Another table includes accidents during instrument
flights with VFR or IFR conditions and the phases of the
biorhythm cycles.
The accidents were numbered and referred to by their own
number. In the "Accident History Description" section information
about these accidents is given. A conversion of accident number to
figure number was devised for this study.
Tables were analyzed and a conclusion was made. These
conclusions, even though they do not correspond to reality, were
written for demonstration purposes in order to help other studies
to use the same path and to generalize results. Biorhythm critical
period accidents have been placed in table form to draw
conclusions. A review of the related literature shows that other
researchers simply examined the critical and non critical period
accidents.
The steps which were used in the analysis are as follows:
a. The standardized statistic test for proportion is used for
statistical analysis. This statistic test is a one-tailed test. The
decision is based on comparing the sample value for the statistic
test for proportion with a critical value.
b. Critical period accidents are displayed in tables under
major categories which include the type of a critical period, phases
of biorhythm cycles, and instrument flight accidents. A conclusion
is drawn for each table analysis.
c. The null hypothesis which was tested with the
standardized statistic test for proportion is that the proportion of
accidents on critical periods is what would be predicted if accidents
were distributed randomly over critical and non-critical periods.
d. The alternative hypothesis is that the proportion of
accidents on critical periods is greater than what would be
predicted if accidents were distributed randomly over critical and
non-critical periods.
e. The standardized statistic test for proportion method
carry out at the level of significance .05, and .01.
f. The effects of low body phase (negative phase of a cycle)
on pilots at the date of the accident were examined through tables.
g. The final analysis ended with patterns (rules) for
aviation safety. These patterns were derived from the biorhythm
analysis tables.
h. Each subject accident was analyzed historically and
graphically and, finally, a cause was determined.
 i. The study ends with recommendations for aviation
safety according to biorhythm theory, and with recommendations
for further studies as well.
 Analysis
Standard Statistic Test for Proportion Analysis
The standardized statistic test for proportion is used for
statistical analysis. This statistic test is an one-tailed test. The
decision is made by comparing the sample value with a statistic
critical value.
For the purposes of this study, and according to the
biorhythm theory, the researcher examined the probability to be in
an accident on a critical or a non-critical period. Also, it was
accepted that the three biorhythm cycles are independent of each
other.
For this study, critical period accidents were determined
using the parameters described in "Acceptances and Assumptions"
section. Thus, accidents number 1 and 27 (these numbers
correspond to the numbers on the conversion table), in which the
biorhythm of pilots advances one day, are included in the
standardized statistic test for proportion analysis. Also, accident
number 14 is included since the killed pilot was affected by the
critical period which was to have begun in 1 hour and 25 minutes.
As a result, from a population of 33 accidents, 15 accidents
occurred on a critical period.
The null hypothesis (Ho) is that Po = .20356, that the
proportion of accidents on critical periods is what would be
predicted if accidents are distributed randomly over critical and
non-critical periods. The alternative hypothesis (HI) is that
Po>.20356, that the proportion of accidents on critical periods is
greater than what would be predicted if accidents are distributed
randomly over critical and non-critical periods. The Po is the
accident proportion if the Ho is true. The standardized statistic
test for proportions was carried out at the 5% and 1% significance
level. The numerical values 2-scores at 5% and 1% level of
significance are z - 1.64 and z = 2.33 correspondingly. In this
case, z can be interpreted as the number of standard deviations or
standard errors. The z is called a relative deviate and the numeric
value called z-score (Anderson et al., 1987). The null hypothesis is
rejected if the calculated z is greater than the critical values of z =
1.64 or z = 2.33 (Elzey, 1971).
The standardized statistic test for proportion analysis
requires probabilities on accidents in critical periods, non-critical
periods, and observed accidents as well. Thus, the biorhythm
theory was analyzed in order to meet these requirements. The
analysis is as follows: A biorhythm cycle has 2 critical periods.
The non-critical periods are 21, 26, and 31 for the physical,
emotional, and intellectual cycles respectively. The probability to
be a non-critical period is 21/23 x 26/28 x 31/33 which means
79.644% probability. Thus, the probability of a critical period is
20.356% (100-79.644). The observed number of accidents in critical
periods is 15.
 The standardized statistic test for proportion analysis
displayed in Table 6 has been used. The statistical result shows a
calculated z = 3.58 greater than the critical of z = 1.64 and z =
2.33. Therefore, the null hypothesis, which stated that the
proportion of accidents on critical periods is what would be
predicted if accidents were distributed randomly over critical and
non-critical periods, is rejected for both significant levels and the
alternative hypothesis is valid.

Table 6

Standard Statistic Test for Proportion

p - Po _ observed proportion
z = -- P = -
Op n

Po (1 Po)
, . _

z = is called a relative deviate

p = sample proportion
Po = population proportion if Ho is true

n = is the number of sample

a p = standard error of the sample proportion
 The statistical result of this study shows that the probability
that an accident will be in a critical period is 15 x 100/33 which
represents 45.45% probability. Using the table of areas for the
standard normal probability distribution, we find that the p value
for the test is .0002. That is, the data suggests that the null
hypothesis could be reflected at a significance level as small as
.0002. The p value is the probability of obtaining a sample result
that is more unlikely than what is observed (Anderson, et al,
1987).

Critical Period Accident Analysis

An analysis of accidents on a critical period is discussed and
displayed in appropriate tables. Also, non-critical period accidents
are presented with comments and an applicable table.
Each accident is shown in the tables with a designated
number. The accidents were numbered by the researcher and are
referred to in the text by this number. Table 7 is a conversion
table of the accident numbers to the corresponding figure numbers.
The researcher placed a symbol b or m after the number.
The symbol "b" is the initial of the word "beginning" and
corresponds to the first critical period at the "beginning" of the
cycle. The symbol "m" corresponds to the middle critical period of
the biorhythm cycle and is the initial of the word "middle." The
symbols H and L are assigned by the researcher to display the
Table 7

Accident Number Conversion to Figure Number

Accident Figure
Number Number
1 4
2 5
3 6
4 7
5 8
6 9
7 10
8 11
9 12
10 13
11 14
12 15
13 16
14 17
15 18
16 19
17 20
18 21
19 22
20 23
21 24
22 25
23 26
24 27
25 28
26 29
27 30
28 31
29 32
30 33
31 34
32 35
33 36
 75
positive/high (H) or negative/low (L) phase of the biorhythm cycle,
and they are correlated with high or low well being.
The accident number 27, even though it is a double critical
period accident (emotional and intellectual), is included on both the
emotional and intellectual critical period analysis because it
occurred on the emotional critical period and on the intellectual
single critical period. Thus, it is displayed at the end of both
emotional and intellectual critical period accidents for easy
reference. Accident number 27 is bold-faced and underlined when
it is displayed with other accidents which occurred on a single
critical period in order to be distinguished from them easily. The
critical physical, emotional or intellectual period accidents are
accepted as either critical period or low (L) phase depending on the
type of table analysis.
The 15 critical period accidents are inadequate for
conclusions and generalizations. However, an attempt will be
made to draw conclusions. These conclusions, even though they do
not correspond to reality, will be discussed to help other
researchers to use the same path and to generalize results. In this
research, biorhythm critical period accidents have been used in
tables to draw conclusions for aviation safety. Many other
researchers have simply examined the critical and non-critical
period accidents. This study examines the type of critical period
(beginning or middle) and the phases of the other cycles as well.
 The conclusions are addressed to the Hellenic Air Force
fighter pilots or to similar fighter pilots, but lack strong validity
since the number of accidents on critical period is small. The
researcher drew a conclusion from the tables when the data
indicated a repetition of over 50%. Generally, the conclusions
concern critical periods and low phases of the biorhythm cycles. It
is up to anyone to accept or to reject the researcher's conclusions
(if he/she has another point of view), but the examples seem to be
valuable and if derived from enough data are valid conclusions.
Flight schools or pilots should feel free to make their own
conclusions.
Following is a discussion which will demonstrate a cause of
the occurrent accident. The cause will be a logical result of the
examined accident using tables. Then, a pattern is recommended
to assist in preventing similar accidents.
The standardized statistic test for proportion analysis shows
that the aviation accident and the biorhythm critical periods are
highly related. Thus, a general conclusion could be made that if a
critical period is anticipated, pilots should be extra careful at the
controls.
Table 8 displays critical period accidents during which one of
the cycle's two critical periods occurred (beginning or middle).
Each accident is shown with a number. This number corresponds
to the number of the figure which is displayed. The symbol b is
Table 8

Type of a Critical Period Accident Analysis

Single critical period

Total
Physical critical 2m 9m 13m 20m 4
Emotional critical lb 4m 10m 14b 18b 27b 5
Intellectual critical 6m 16m 26b 30b 33b 27b 5
Subtotal 14

Double critical period

Total
Physical and Emotional 0
Emotional and Intellectual 27bb 1
Intellectual and Physical 0
Subtotal 1
Total accident 15

Note. Accident number 27 is displayed with the single critical

period accidents, but it is not counted with them.
"b" "beginning" corresponds to the first critical period.
"m" "middle" corresponds to the middle critical period.
"bb" "beginning" "beginning" corresponds to the first critical period
of each cycle in a double critical period.
the initial of the word "beginning" and corresponds to the first
critical period at the "beginning" of the cycle. The symbol m
corresponds to the middle critical period of the biorhythm cycle
and is the initial of the word "middle." The accident Number 27 is
displayed on the table for single critical period accident but it is
not counted.
The results show that the accidents in the physical cycle
occurred on the middle critical period of the biorhythm cycle. The
accidents in the emotional and intellectual cycles balance in both
critical periods (beginning and middle). If a general conclusion can
be made, it is that if a middle critical period exists on the physical
cycle, the pilot should be extra careful during the flight.
Table 9 displays critical period accidents and the phases of
the biorhythm cycles. In this table, the researcher examined the
correlation of the critical period accidents with the phases of the
other biorhythm cycles. The symbols "H" and "L" are assigned by
the researcher to display the positive/high (H) or negative/low (L)
phase of the biorhythm cycle.
The analysis shows that the accidents on a physical critical
period are 4 in (H) and 4 in (L) cycle positions. Also, these
accidents show an inclination for the (L) of the intellectual cycle.
The conclusion drawn is that if a physical critical period coincides
with a (L) intellectual cycle then an accident prone condition exists.
Table 9

Critical Period Accidents and the Phases of the Biorhvthm Cycles

Biorhythm Physical Emotional

cycles critical critical
Physical 2m 9m 13m 20m H H L L H H
Emotional H L H H lb 4m 10m 14b 18b 27b
Intellectual H L L L H H H H L 2 7 b

Biorhythm Intellectual
cycles critical
Physical L H H L H H
Emotional L H L L L 27b
Intellectual 6m 16m 26b 30b 33b 27b

Note. "H" and "L" corresponds to the positive or negative phases

of the biorhythm cycle.
"b" "beginning" corresponds to the first critical period.
"m" "middle" corresponds to the middle critical period.
 The emotional critical period accident analysis includes
accident Number 27 because it occurred on an emotional critical
period, even though it is a double critical period accident. Thus,
this accident is displayed at the end of the emotional critical
period accidents. The intellectual critical period of this accident
(27) will be referred to as low (L). When the emotional critical
period accidents occurred, there were 8 high phases (H) and 4 low
phases (L) in the other two cycles (8H vs 4L). This condition could
be dangerous when pilots perform difficult missions and have a
sense of perfect condition in the physical and intellectual cycle.
The emotional feelings are so strong (negative) on a critical
emotional period that they overcome any positive characteristics of
the other cycles. Consequently, if an emotional critical period
exists, then the pilot must be extra careful even though there is a
feeling (sense) of high physical or intellectual performance.
The intellectual critical period accident analysis should
include the accident Number 27 because it occurred on an
intellectual critical period, even though it is a double critical
period accident. Thus, this accident is displayed at the end of the
intellectual critical period accidents. The emotional critical period
of this accident (27) will be referred to as low (L). When the
intellectual critical period accidents occurred, there were 5 low
phases (L) and 1 high phase (H) in the emotional cycle (5L vs 1H).
The accidents corresponding to the beginning critical period of the
intellectual cycle coincide (show strong relationship) with the low
phase (L) of the emotional cycle. A viable conclusion could be
made that, if a beginning intellectual critical period coexists with a
low phase in the emotional cycle, pilots should increase their
attention while flying an aircraft more than in a normal critical
period.
Table 10 displays accidents that occurred on a critical period
during instrument flights under VFR or IFR conditions. The
researcher put a symbol W or N after the accident number. The
symbol "W" is the initial of the word "Weather" and mean that the
pilot was flying into clouds. The symbol "N" is the initial of the
word "Night" and means that the pilot was flying a night flight.
Most of the night flights are instrument flights conducted under
VFR or IFR conditions. Also, there is a symbol V>I under the
accidents Numbers 6, 26, and 33. The symbol V>I means that
first the pilots were flying under VFR conditions and then the
weather changed to IFR conditions. The accidents that occurred
under these circumstances are bold-faced.
From a population of fifteen (15) accidents on critical
periods, ten (10) occurred under instrument flights or IFR
conditions. The analysis shows that there were 4 accidents
occurring in weather flights; there were 3 night (instrument)
missions; and, there were 3 abrupt weather condition changes. Of
the accidents that occurred on a critical period, 66.66% occurred
Table 10

Instrument Flight Accidents on Critical Periods

Single critical day

Total
Physical critical day 2W 9W 2
Emotional critical day 4N 10W 27N 2
Intellectual critical day 6 16W 26 30N 33 27N 5
V>I V>I V>I
Subtotal 9

Double critical day

Total
Physical and Emotional 0
Emotional and Intellectual 27N 1
Intellectual and Physical 0
Subtotal 1
Total accidents on Instrument flights 10

Note. "W" "weather" means that the pilot was flying into clouds.
"N" "night" means that the pilot was flying a night flight.
V>I means that first the pilots were flying under VFR conditions
and then the weather changed to IFR conditions.
during instrument flights. The high rate of instrument flight
accidents were unexpected since the plethora of the Air Force
missions are non-instrument flights under VFR conditions (there
are more sunny than cloudy days in Greece).
There are two accidents in the physical critical period, three
in the emotional (accident number 27 is included), and six more
(accident number 27 is again included) in the intellectual. The
dominant cycle during the instrument flight or "IFR conditions"
accidents is the intellectual biorhythm cycle since it has twice the
number of accidents the other cycles have.
The conclusion for this table should be that if an instrument
flight falls on a critical period in the intellectual cycle, the pilot
should be extremely careful.
Table 11 displays accidents occurring on a critical period
during instrument flights under VFR or IFR conditions and the
phases of the biorhythm cycles. In this table, the accident number
has the two symbols as used in the previous tables.
Accidents on an intellectual critical period correspond to the
low phase of the emotional biorhythm cycle and there are 5 in low
phase and one (1) in high phase (5L vs 1H) (see Table 11). The
accidents corresponding to the beginning critical period of the
intellectual cycle show a strong relationship with the Low phase of
the emotional cycle. A viable conclusion could be made that, if an
intellectual critical period occurs with a low phase in the emotional
Table 11

Instrument Flight Accidents and the Phases of the Biorhvthm

Cvcles.

Biorhythm Physical Emotional

cycle critical critical
Physical 2mW 9mW H L H
Emotional H L 4mN lOmW 27bN
Intellectual H L H H 27bN

Biorhythm Intellectual
cycle critical
Physical L H H L H H
Emotional L H L L L 27bN
Intellectual 6m 16mW 26b 30bN 33b 27bN
V>I V>I V>I

Note. "H" and "L" corresponds to the positive or negative phases

of the biorhythm cycles.
"W" "weather" means that the pilot was flying into clouds.
"N" "night" means that the pilot was flying a night flight.
"b" "beginning" corresponds to the first critical period.
"m" "middle" corresponds to the middle critical period.
"V>I" means that first the pilots were flying under VFR conditions
and then the weather changed to IFR conditions.
cycle, pilots should increase their attention more than in a normal
critical period during instrument flights.
Table 12 shows an analysis of accidents that occurred one
day before the critical period. There are 8 accidents that occurred
one day before the critical period and within a 12 hour period
interval from the critical period. There are 23 total accidents if
the one day before accidents are included in the calculation of
accidents occurring on the exact critical period. Further
consideration of these accidents will not be given because they are
not included in the critical period since they do not agree with the
research assumptions.
Table 13 displays all the accidents and the phases of each
biorhythm cycle. The accidents on a critical period are shown in
bold-face. The first row of numbers corresponds to the accident
number. The symbol "CP" shows critical periods. The critical
physical, emotional, or intellectual period accidents are accepted as
either critical or low (L) depending of the type of analysis.
Accident Number 27 has been shown as critical on both the
emotional and intellectual cycles.
The analysis shows that the low and high phase on the
physical cycle does not present any difference (16H vs 13L + 4CD).
Also, the low and high phase on the emotional cycle does not
present any difference (15H vs 12L + 6CD). A significant number
of low phase accidents are displayed for the intellectual cycle
Table 12

One Day Before the Critical Period Accidents

Single critical period

Total
Physical 7b 21b 2
Emotional 3m 15b 32m 3
Intellectual 24b 1
Subtotal 6

Double critical period

Total
Physical and Emotional 5bb 23bm 2
Emotional and Intellectual 0
Intellectual and Physical 0
Subtotal 2
Total accidents 8

Note, "b" "beginning" corresponds to the first critical period.

"m" "middle" corresponds to the middle critical period.
"bb" "beginning" "beginning" corresponds to the first critical period
of each cycle in a double critical period.
"bm" "beginning" "middle" corresponds to the first critical period of
the first cycle and to the middle critical period of the second cycle
in a double critical period.
Table 13

Phases of the Biorhythm Cycles on Total Sample of Accidents

Biorhythm Accident numbers

cycles
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Physical H 2 L H L L L H 9 L H
Emotional 1 H H 4 L L H H L 10 H
Intellectual H H L H L 6 H L L H H
12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22
Physical L 13 L H H H H L 20 L H
Emotional H H 14 L H H 18 H H L L
Intellectual L L H L 16 H L H L L H
23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33
Physical L H L H H H L L H H H
Emotional H L H L 27 H L L L H L
Intellectual L L H 26 27 L L 30 L L 33

H L CP L + CP
Physical 16 13 4 17
Emotional 15 12 6 18
Intellectual 11 16 6 22

"H" and "L" corresponds to the positive or negative phases of the

biorhythm cycles.
Bold-faced are accidents on a critical period.
"CP" "critical period" shows critical period accidents.
"L + CP" means low phase and critical period accidents.
[11H vs 22L (16L + 6CD)]. A total of 66.67% accidents occurred
during the low phase of the intellectual cycle.
This result suggests that the intellectual cycle may be the
most important cycle in the pilot's life. A low physical or
emotional condition could be overcome with intellectual counter-
action to the situation. As a rule, one could say that if an
intellectual critical period arises, then the pilot should be overly
cautious in every flight situation. If the intellectual cycle is low,
then an abrupt change of a current situation could be dangerous.
The results of the low and high phases of the cycles could
also be interpreted in a different manner and acquire different
patterns. For example, if the total low and high phases of each
biorhythm cycle are added (40H vs 57L), then the results display a
non-significant difference between the phases of the cycle (see
Table 13). No more consideration will be given to the total
accident table until a formula for examination has been
established.
The patterns that have been found during the table analysis
by examination of the accidents are summarized and generalized
to more effective patterns. These patterns are displayed as
examples for aviation safety (see Table 14). These patterns might
be different with a large sample on critical period accidents.
Table 14

Aviation Safety Patterns

1. If a critical period is anticipated, extreme caution should be

exercised while at the aircraft controls.
2. If an emotional critical period exists, a caution should be
observed even though there is a feeling (sense) of high physical
or intellectual performance.
3. If an intellectual critical period arises, then the pilot should
consider every flight situation (especially instrument flights)
carefully.
4. If a physical or emotional critical period coincides with a low
intellectual cycle, then an accident prone condition exists.
5. If the intellectual cycle is low, any abrupt change of a current
condition could present a very dangerous situation for the pilot.

For VFR flights apply patterns 1,2, and 5.

For IFR flights apply patterns 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.

Historical Description of Accidents
The results of this study support the research hypothesis
that the days of the aircraft accidents are highly related to the
pilot's critical periods. The consideration of the critical periods
(days) when scheduling pilots, will minimize the number of
aviation accidents. In this study by analyzing the pilot's
biorhythms, each accident shows a pattern that could possibly
explain each situation and rationalize why it happened. Aviation
safety patterns (see Table 14) are discussed for demonstration
purposes.
The samples described are Greek military fighter pilots; the
period of accidents involved is from 1972 to 1989. The places of
the accidents are located in Greece.
In the accident on July 31, 1972 (see Figure 4), the pilot was
killed after his TF-104 aircraft crashed in the area of Neridomachi
Ylias while he was performing acrobatic maneuvers. His
emotional cycle was in a critical beginning period. Both the
physical and the intellectual cycles were in high phase. This
accident could possibly have been prevented if the pilot had
followed the number 1 and 2 patterns (see Table 14) for aviation
safety.
In Figure 5, the pilot was killed on November 28, 1973 after
his RF-84 aircraft crashed in the area of Larissas. The accident
happened while the pilot performed an instrument descent and
 Low Neutral Line High

Hon 26 PE 1 I
X 1 I
Tue 27 X 1 I
EP 1 I
Hod 28 EP 1 I
EP | I
Thu 29 E P f I
• P 1 I
Fri 30 E P 1 I
E P 1 I
Sat 1 July E X I
EX I
Sun 2 X P I
X P I
Hon * IE P I
| E P I
Tue 4 ! E P I
I E P I
Wed 5 I E P I
I E IP
Thu 6 I F T p
I IE P
Fri 7 I I E P
I I EP
Sat 6 1 I x
I I P E
Sun 9 I I P E
I I P E
Mon 10 I I P E
I I P E
Tue 11 I I P E
X P F
Wed 12 X P E
IX E
Thu 13 I X F
I P I E
Fri H I P 1 E
I P 1 E
Sat IS PI 1 E
PI 1 E
Sun 16 PI X
p I X
Hon 17 p E 1
p I E 1
Tue 18 Pi E
PI E
Wed 19 X E
IP E
Thu 20 I p E
I EP
Fri 21 IE P
X P
Sat 22 EI P
E I P
Sun 23 E I P 1
E I P 1
Mon 24 F I X
E I X
Tue 25 E I 1 P
E I I p
Wed 26 E I 1 p
E 1 1 p
Thu 27 E I 1 p
F I 1 p
Fri 28 E X P
E XI P
Sat 29 E | I P
£ I I P
Sun 30 E X I P
E X I P
Mon 31 Accident
I E I P
Tue 1 A u g u s t I E I P
| E X
Wed 2 | EP I

Figure 4. Biorhythms of TF-104 pilot Killed Near Neridomachi

Ylias on July 31, 1972 While Performing Acrobatic Maneuvers.
 Low Neutral Line High

Sun 28 October I 1 E P
I E P
Mon 29 I E P
I E P
Tue 30 I F P
I E P
Wed 31 I E P
I E P
Thu 1 Noventer I EP
I PE
Fri 2 I 2 E
I P E
Sat 3 I P E
I P E
Sun 4 I P E
I 1 P E
Mon 5 I 1 P F
I X E
Tue 6 I X E
I P E
Wed -> I P E
I P E
Thu 8 I P E
X E
Fri 9 P I 1 E

P I 1 E
Sat 10 P I X
P I X
Sun 11 P I E
P IE
Mon 12 P E I
P E I
Tue 13 P E X
P I X
Wed 14 EP 1 I
E 1 I
Thu 15 F P 1 I
E P I
Fri 16 E P I
E P I
Sat 17 E X I
E X I
Sun 18 £ 1 p I
£ 1 p I
Hon 19 E P I
E P I
Tue 20 £ P I
E P
I
Wed 21 E P I
E PI
Thu 22 E X
E IP
Fri 23 E IP
E I P
Sat 24 X I P
X I P
Sun 25 1 E IP
1 E IP
Mon 26 E IP
PX
Tue 27 PI F
1 P I E
Wed 2 8 1 P I E
P Accident X I E
Thu 29 P X I E
I P X E
Fri 30 I P X E
P I 1 E
Sat 1 December P I 1 E
P I 1 E

Figure 5. Biorhythms of RF-84 Pilot Killed Near the Area of

Larissas in November 28, 1973 While Performing Instrument
Descent in Actual Weather.
Ground Control Approach (GCA). It was an actual weather
instrument flight. The biorhythm chart shows that he was on a
critical period in the physical cycle. He was also one day from an
intellectual critical period (next day). The emotional cycle was in
high phase. This accident could possibly have been prevented if
the pilot conformed with the patterns 1, and 4 (see Table 14).
The pilot in Figure 6 was killed on March 28, 1974 after his
RF-84 aircraft crashed in the mountain area of Vassilika Istias
while he was flying in a low altitude navigation mission. At the
time of the accident, pilot vision was restricted. The Biorhythm
chart shows that he was one day before his emotional critical
period and low in his intellectual and physical cycles. This
accident belongs in the 1 and the 4 pattern.
Figure 7 shows that an instructor pilot was killed on May 13,
1974 when his T-33 aircraft crashed in the area of Damassio
Larissas. He was flying with an Air Cadet on a night instrument
flight. His biorhythm chart showed a critical period in the
emotional cycle and high in the physical and intellectual cycles.
Again, the accident could possibly have been prevented by applying
pattern 1 and 2 in Table 14.
The pilot in Figure 8 was killed on April 22, 1975 as his F-5
aircraft crashed on a duty mission in the Thermaiko Gulf area.
The accident happened shortly after take-off. Again, vision was
restricted. The biorhythm chart shows he was one day before a
 Neutral Line

Wed 27 February I P
I P
Thu 28

F r i 1 March

Sat 2

Sun 3

Mon 4

Tue 5

Wed 6

Thu 7

Fri 8

Sat 9

Sun 10
P I
Mon 11 P I
P I
Tue 12 PI
PI
Wed 13

Thu 14

Fri 15

Sat 16
PI
Sun 17 E PI
EP I
Mon 18 P X
I E
Tue 19

Wed 2 0

Thu 21

F r i 22

Sat 23

Sun 24

Mon 25

Tue 26

Wed 27
I P
Thu 2 8 I P
Accident
F r i 29 E
E
Sat 30

Sun 31

Mon 1 A p r i l

Tue 2

Figure 6. Biorhythms of RF-84 Pilot Killed in a Mountain Area of

Vassilika Istias on March 28, 1974 During a Low Altitude
Navigation Mission.
 Low Neutral Line High

Sat 13 Ap r l l 1 EP I
1 E I P
Sun 14 1 E I P
1 E I P
Mon 1 5 X I P
X I P
Tue 16 E 1 I P
E X P
Wed 17 E X P
E I I P
Thu 18 E I 1 P
E I 1 P
Fri 19 F I 1 P
E 1 1 P
Sat 20 F I 1 P
F I P 1
Sun 21 E I P 1
E I E 1
Mon 2 2 E I P 1
E I X
Tue 23 X X
X P 1
Wed 24 I E P 1
I F P 1
Thu 25 I F P 1
I X 1
Fri 26 I P E 1
IP F 1
Sat 27 PI 1
P I E 1
Sun 2 8 P I E 1
P I E 1
Mon 2 9 P I X
P I X
Tue 30 P I 1 E
P I 1 E
Wed 1 May P I 1 E
P I 1 E
Thu 2 P I 1 E
P I 1 E
Fri 3 P X E
P X E
Sat 4 X I F
X I E
Sun 5 P I E
P I E
Mon 6 P I E
P I E
Tue 7 P I E
X E
Wed 8 X F
X
Thu 9 E IP
E IP
Fri 10 E IP
E X
Sat 11 E PI
E P I
Sun 12 E P I
E P I
Mon 13 E X P I
E P I
tue 14 E P I
E P I
Wed 1 5 E P I
E X I
Thu 16 E I
E P I
Fri 17 E P I
E P I

Figure 7. Biorhythms of T-33 Instructor Pilot killed near

Damassio Larissas on May 13, 1974 During a Night Instrument
Flight.
 Neutral Line High

Sat 22 March I E P
I PE
Sun 23 I P E
IP
Hon 24 PI
P I
Tue 2 5

Wed 2 6

Thu 27

Fri 28

Sat 29

Sun 30
P X
Mon 3 1 X I

Tue 1 A p r i l
P I
Wed 2 P I

Thu 3 IP E
IP E
Fri 4 I X
X P
Sat 5 E I P
E IP
Sun 6 IP

Mon 7
P I
Tue 8 I

Wed 9

Thu 10

Fri 11

Sat 12

Sun 1 3

Mon 14

Tue 15 E P
E P
Wed 16 EP
X
Thu 17 PE
PE
Fri 18 P E
P F I
Sat 19 P E I
P X
Sun 20 X E
I P E
Mon 2 1

Tue 2 2 PE
Accident -> PE
Wed 2 3 P E
P E
Thu 24

Fri 25
E P
Sat 2 6 E P
E P

Figure 8. Biorhythms of F-5 Pilot Killed on Thermaiko Gulf on

April 22, 1975 Shortly After Take-Off While Restricted Vision
Existed.
double critical period for both the emotional and the physical
cycles and experiencing a nadir on the intellectual cycle. The
accident conforms with the 1,2, and 4 patterns of Table 14.
The researcher believes that the accident in Figure 9 was
caused by bad weather. The pilot was killed on August 1, 1975
after his F-84 aircraft crashed 15 Nautical Miles (NM) north-east
of Kimi Evias and disappeared. His status was critical in the
intellectual cycle, in nadir within the physical cycle, and low in the
emotional cycle. The 1 and 3 patterns could apply for this type of
accident.
The accident that is presented in Figure 10 confirms the
Biorhythm theory. The pilot was killed on August 11, 1975 when
his F-84 aircraft crashed in the area of Kasteli airport. The cause
of the accident remains unsolved. The Biorhythms show that the
pilot was one day before a double critical period on the physical
and intellectual cycles. The emotional cycle was high. The
applicable patterns could be 1, 3, and 4.
The pilot in Figure 11 was killed on November 19, 1975 after
his F-5 aircraft crashed in the area of Karpenisi Euritanias. While
the pilot was on a cross country mission, he entered a cloud bank
and possibly became disoriented. He ejected but was killed. His
Biorhythm profile on the day of the accident was low in the
intellectual cycle and high in the emotional and physical cycles.
Table 14 helps to explain this accident. It shows that 22 accidents
 98

Low Neutral Line High

Tue 1 J u l y E I 1 P
E 1 P
Wed 2 E I 1 P
E I 1 P
Thu 3 EI 1 P
I F X
Fri 4 I E X
I F P 1
Sat 5 I y P 1
I p E I
Sun 6 I P E I
I P E 1
Mon 7 I P X
I P X
Tue 8 X 1 E
PI 1 E
Wed 9 P I 1 E
P I 1 E
Thu 10 P I 1 E
P I 1 E
Fri 11 P I 1 E
P I | I
Sat 12 P ] 1 E
P i 1 E
Sun 13 p I 1 E
p I 1 E
Mon 14 PI | E
PI | E
Tue 15 X E
X E
Wed 16 I IP E
I I P E
Thu 17 I I P E
I I PE
Fri 18 I IE P
1 EI P
Sat 19 I E I P
I E I P
Sun 20 I E I P
IE I P
Mon 2 1 X I P
X IP
Tue 22 E | X
E | P I
Wed 23 E 1 P I
E 1 P I
Thu 24 E 1 P I
E 1 P I
Fri 25 E 1 P I
i 1 P I
Sat 26 E 1 P I
E X I
Sun 27 E X I
E P 1 I
Mon 2 8 E P 1 I
E P | I
Tue 29 E P | I
E P I I
Wed 30 E P I I
PE I I
Thu 31 P E I I
I P E X
Fri 1 Aug i Accident P E
P F I 1
Sat 2 P E I 1
P X I
Sun 3 P I £ 1
P I E I
Mon 4 P I X
IP X

Figure 9. Biorhythms of F-84 pilot killed near Kimi of Evia on

August 1, 1975.
 99

Low Neutral Line High

Thu 10 Jul y P 1 I E
P X E
Fri 11 P X E
P I 1 E
Sat 12 P I I E
P I 1 E
Sun 13 P I I E
P I I E
Mon 14 P I | E
P I I E
Tue 15 P 1 F
P I E
Wed 16 PI E
I P E
Thu 17 I E 1 E
I P | E
Fri IB I P X
I P X
Sat 19 I P E |
I E P |
Sun 20 I E X
I E X
Mon 21 I E | P
I E | P
Tue 22 X P
E I P
Wed 23 E I | P
E I 1 P
Thu 24 E I | P
E I t P
Fri 25 E I | P
E I 1 P
Sat 26 F I | P
E I 1 P
Sun 27 F P
E X P
Mon 28 E 1 I P
E 1 I P
Tue 29 E 1 I P
E I I P
Wed 30 E | P I
E | P I
Thu 31 E | P I
E X I
Fri 1 Au gust P X I
P X I
Sat 2 P | E I
P | E I
Sun 3 P 1 E
P E
Mon 4 P E
P E I
Tue 5 P E I
P £ I
Wed 6 P EI
P IE
Thu i P I E
P I E
Fri 8 P I E
P I E
Sat 9 P I E
P 1 E
Sun 10 P 1 I E
P 1 E
Mon 11 P 1 I E
Acciden E
Tue 12 P X I E
P, I X P E
Wed 13 I X P E
I 1 EP
Thu 14 I 1 E P
I 1 E P
Fri IS I X P
I X P
Sat 16 I E 1 P

Figure 10. Bioryhthms of F-84 Pilot Killed Near Kasteli Airport

on August 11, 1975.
 Low Neutral Line High

Sun 19 O c t o b e r P I X
P I X
Mon 20 P I 1 E
P I I E
Tue 2 1 P [ | E
P I 1 E
Wed 22 P I 1 E
P I 1 E
Thu 23 P X E
P X E
Fri 24 XI F
X I E
Sat 25 I P I E
I P I E
Sun 26 I P I E
I PI F
Mon 27 I X E
I IP E
Tue 26 1 I x
I X P
Wed 2 9 | E I P
I E IP
Thu 30 I F IP
I E X
Fri 31 I E PI
I E P I
Sat 1 November I E P I
IE P I
Sun 2 X P I
X P I
Mon 3 E | P I
E | P I
Tue 4 E 1 P I
E X I
Wed 5 E X I
E P 1 I
Thu 6 t P 1 I
F P | I
Fri 7 E P I I
E P 1 I
Sat a E P I I
E P
Sun 9 EP
X I |
Mon 10 PE I |
PE I |
Tue 1 1 P E I
P E I
Wed 12 P E I
P X
Thu 13 X E
I P E
Fri 14 I PE
I PE
Sat 15 I PE |
I PE |
Sun 16 P. E I
P, E I
Hon 17 I 1 EP
I | EP
Tue 18 I | EP
I I E P
Wed 19 Accident
I I E P
Thu 2 0 I | E P
I I E P
Fri 21 I I E P
I I EP
Sat 22 I | EP
I 1 x
Sun 2 3 I I PE

Figure 11. Bioryhthms of F-5 Pilot Killed in the Area of Karpenisi

Euritanias on November 19, 1975 While on a Cross Country
Mission.
 101
(of a total 33) occurred in the low phase of the intellectual cycle.
The abrupt change of the weather conditions and the low
intellectual phase were possibly the main causes of the accident.
The 5th pattern (see Table 14) applies for this case.
An accident that happened during an actual instrument
flight is shown in Figure 12. The pilot was killed on January 8,
1976 after his F-84 aircraft crashed in the Farsala of Larissa. He
was performing an instrument descent when he became
disoriented. The attitude indicator failed during the descent. He
was in a physical middle critical period and low in both emotional
and intellectual cycles. The applicable patterns in this situation
are 1 and 5.
In formation with the previous pilot was another pilot whose
biorhythm cycles are shown in Figure 13. He was also killed on
January 8, 1976 after his F-84 aircraft crashed. He ejected but
unsuccessfully (low altitude). His emotional cycle was on a critical
period, in nadir for the physical cycle and high for intellectual.
The number 1 and 2 patterns of Table 14 could apply in this case.
The high intellectual cycle allowed him to eject but other
parameters made this reaction unsuccessful.
The accident shown in Figure 14 suggests that the cause was
factors that are not due to pilot error. The pilot was killed on
February 24, 1976 because his F-84 aircraft crashed in the Halki
Larissas while he was on a duty mission. The pilot ejected when
 Low Neutral Line High

Hon 8 D ecembor I 1 E P
I 1 £ P
Tue 9 I X P
I X P
Wed 10 I E 1 P
E I 1 P
Thu 11 E X P
E X P
Fri 12 E 1 I P
1 I P
Sat 13 E 1 I P
F I P
Sun 14 E I P
E P I
Mon 15 £ P I
E 1 p I
Tue 16 1 p I
E X I
Wed 17 F X I
E p 1 I
Thu 18 E P I
F P I
Fri 19 E P I
PE I
Sat 2 0 P E I
P E I
Sun 21 P E I
P £ I
Mon 22 P E 1 I
P E I I
Tue 23 P X I
P X I
Wed 24 P 1 E I
P 1 £ I
Thu 25 P X
P I I E
Fri 26 P 1 I F
P I I E
Sat 27 P I I E
P X E
Sun 28 X E
I X F
Mon 2 9 I 1 p
I 1 p E
Tue 30 I 1 p E
I P E
Wed 31 I P E
I P E
Thu 1 Janu ary I X
I E P
Fri 2 I E P
I E P
Sat 3 I F P
I E P
Sun i I E P
I 1 E P
Mon 5 I 1 E P
I 1 E P
Tue 6 I E
I P
Wed 7 I E | P
I E 1 P
Thu 8 I E 1 P
I Accident J t -> X
Fri 9 I X
E I P
Sat 10 E I P
E PI
Sun 11 E P I
E P I

Figure 12. Biorhythms of F-84 Pilot Killed in the Area of Farsala

Larissa on January 8, 1976 While Perfoming an Instrument
Descent in Actual Weather.
 Low Neutral Lint High

Hon 8 D e c e m b e r EP I
PE I
Tue 9 PE I
t P E I
Wed 10 I PE I
X E I
Thu 11 X I
P X I
Fri 12 P E 1 I
P E | I
Sat 13 P E | I
P E X
Sun 14 P E X
P E I 1
Hon 1 5 P F I 1
P E I |
Tue 16 P E I I
PE I |
Wed 17 PE I 1
EP I
Thu 18 E P 1
E X
Fri 19 E I E
EI E
Sat 20 IE P 1
I E P 1
Sun 2 1 I E P 1
I E P 1
Hon 22 I E X
I F X
Tue 2 3 I E | P
I E | P
Wed 24 I E 1 P
I E 1 P
Thu 25 I X P
I X P
Fri 26 I 1 E P
I 1 E P
Sat 27 I | E P
I | E P
Sun 28 I 1 E P
I 1 E P
Mon 2 9 I | E P
I 1 EP
Tue 30 X P E
X P E
Wed 31 1 I P E
1 I P E
Thu 1 Jam ary IP E
1 p I E
Fri 2 1 p I E
X I F
Sat 3 X I E
p 1 I E
Sun 4 p 1 X
p 1 E I
Mon 5 p 1 F I
P E I
Tue 6 P E I
P E I
Wed 7 P 1 E
P 1 E
Thu 8 E Accident
E P X
Fri 9 P E 1 I
P E 1 I
Sat 10 P E 1 I
P E 1 I
Sun 11 P E 1 I
EP I

Figure 13. Biorhythms of F-84 Pilot Killed in the Area of Farsala

Larissa on January 8, 1976 While He Was Perfoming an
Instrument Descent in Actual Weather.
 Neutral Lino

Wed 21

Thu 22 E I
E I
Fri 23 El
IE
Sat 24 I E
I E
Sun 25 I E

Hon 26

Tua 27 PI
I P
Wad 28 P E
E P
Thu 2 9

Fri 30

Sat 31

Sun 1 F e b r u a r y

Mon 2

Tua 3

Wad 4 I E
I E
Thu 5 I E
I F
Fri 6 I E
IE
Sat 7 IE S
X P
Sun 8 EI P
EI P
Mon 9 EI P
EPI
Tua 10 PE I
P E I
Wed 11 P EI
P EI
Thu 12 P EI
P EI
Fri 13 P EI
P EI*
Sat 14

Sun 15

Mon 16

Tue 17 P I E
P I E
Wed 18 IE
I E
Thu 19 I E
P I E
Fri 20 P I F
PI E
sat 21 XE
XE
Sun 22 IX
X
Mon 23 EX
EX
Tua 24 Accident EPI
EPI
X I
wad 25
EP I
EP I
Thu 26

Fri 27

Figure 14. Biorhythms of F-84 Pilot Killed after an Unsuccessful

Ejection Near Halki Larissas on February 24, 1976.
 105
the aircraft stalled close to the surface, but his ejection was
unsuccessful. The biorhythm cycle was high on the day of the
accident. No pattern could apply. These types of accidents should
be examined for external causes such as emergency procedures,
education, or company policy.
The pilot in Figure 15 was killed on December 16, 1976. His
F-5 aircraft collided with another aircraft and crashed near the
village of Plagiari close to Mikras airport. The pilot intended to
land after a night duty mission. The biorhythm cycles were low
for the physical and the intellectual cycle and high for the
emotional cycle. The applicable pattern is number 5.
The pilot in Figure 16 was killed on July 5, 1977 after his F-
1 aircraft crashed in the area of Amfissa Fokidas. He was
performing acrobatic maneuvers while the weather was cloudy. He
was on a physical middle critical period, low or one day before an
intellectual critical period and high for the emotional cycle. The
accident prevention patterns that apply for this accident are 1, 3
and 5.
The pilot in Figure 17 was killed on August 2, 1977 after his
A-7 aircraft crashed into a mountain close to Souda airport. At
the time, he was helping a new pilot land after a night duty
mission. He was on an emotional critical period, very close to a
critical period for the physical cycle while the intellectual cycle was
high. In this case, patterns 1 and 2 could apply.
 106

Low Neutral Line High

Sun 14 N o v e m b e r I E P
I P E
Hon 15 I E P
I EP
Tue 16 I X
I P E
Wed 17 I P £
I P E
Thu 18 I P E
I P E
Fri 19 I P £
I P E
Sat 20 I P E
I X F
Sun 2 1 I X E
I P 1 E
Mon 22 I P 1 E
P I | E
Tue 2 3 P I | E
P I | E
Wed 24 P X
P X
Thu 2 5 P E I I
P E I I
Fri 26 P E I
P E I
Sat 27 P E I
P E I
Sun 28 P E I
EP I
Mon 2 9 E P I
E P I
Tue 30 E P I
E P I
Wed 1 D e c e m b e r E P 1 I
E P 1
Thu 2 E X
E X
Fri 3 E P
E P
Sat 4 F P I
E P I
Sun 3 E P I
F X
Mon 6 E I P
E I P
Tue 7 E 1 I P
E | I P
Wed 8 X I P
X I P
Thu 9 E I P
IE P
Fri 10 I E P
X E P
Sat 11 X EP
I 1 P E
Sun 12 I 1 P E
I P E
Mon 1 3 I P E
P I X E
Tue 14 P I X E
I p 1 E
Wed 15 I p 1 E
I P E
Thu 16 Accident — I P -- --> I E
I P E
Fri 17 I P E
IP F
Sat 18 IP E
X E

Figure 15. Biorhythms of F-5 Pilot Killed in a Collision with

Another Aircraft on a Night Mission Near the Village of Plagiari
on December 16, 1976.
 Neutral Line High

Sun 3 June I I E P
I I E P
Mon 6 I I E P
I I E P
Tua 7 I I EP
I I PE
wed 8 I X E
I P I E
Thu 9 I P I E

Fri 10

Sat 11

Sun 12

Mon 13
I
Tua 14 I
I
Wed 15 I
I E
Thu 16

Fri 17

Sat 18

Sun 19
P E
Mon 20 EP
F P
Tua 21

Wed 22

Thu 23
E I X
Fri 24 E I I
E I I
Sat 25 EI I
IE I
Sun 26 I E I
I E I
Mon 27

Tue 28

Wed 29 I
E I
Thu 30

Fri 1 July I
I
Sat 2

Sun 3

Mon 4
P
Tue 5 P Accident

Wed 6

Thu 7

Fri 8

Sat 9
P I
Sun 10 P I
P I

Figure 16. Biorhythms of F-1 Pilot Killed in the Area of Amfissa

Fokidas on July 5, 1977 While Performing Acrobatic Maneuvers.
 eutral Line

Sat z July

Sun 3

Mon 4

Tue 5
EX
Wed 6 X
I X
Thu 7

Fri 8

Sat 9

Sun 10

Mon 11

Tue 12

Wed 13

Thu 14

Fri 15 P E
X
Sat 16 £ P

Sun 17

Mon 18

Tue 19

Wed 20

Thu 21 I E |
E I |
Fri 22

Sat 23

Sun 24

Mon 25

Tue 26

Wed 27

Thu 28

Fri 29 P E
P E
Sat 30

Sun 31

Mon 1 August

Tue 2
Accident > P
Wed 3
P X
Thu 4 X E

Fri 5

Sat 6

Figure 17. Biorhythms of A-7 Pilot Killed in a Crash into a

Mountain Near to Souda Airport on August 2, 1977 on a Night
Mission.
 109
In the following accidents that are shown in Figures 18 and
19, the pilots were killed on March 27, 1978 after their F-84
aircraft crashed in the mountain area of Antichassia Tricalon
while they were flying in formation in actual weather conditions.
The Figure 19 pilot was flying as a formation leader at the time of
the accident. The biorhythms (see Figure 18) for the lead pilot
indicate that he was one day before an emotional critical period,
low in the intellectual cycle, and high in the physical cycle. The
applicable patterns are 1, 2 and 5. However, for the second pilot
(see Figure 19), the biorhythm chart shows that he was in an
intellectual middle critical period while the physical and emotional
cycles were high. The accident prevention patterns 1, 3 and 5
apply for the second pilot.
The pilot in Figure 20 was killed on November 21, 1978 after
his F-104 aircraft crashed at sea in the area between Peloponissou
and Zakinthou, which is close to Loutra Kilinis. He was returning
from a night strafing mission in a three aircraft formation. The
physical and emotional biorhythm cycles were on zenith and the
intellectual cycle was high. No patterns pertain to this accident;
however, as in accident number 11 (see figure 14) external causes
could apply and should be investigated for accident prevention.
Figure 21 shows that the pilot was killed on May 23, 1980
after his RF-5 aircraft crashed in the area of Lamia while he was
on a duty mission. He was in an emotional critical period, high in
 Neutral Line High

Hon 2 7 F e b r u a r y

Tue 2 8

Wed 1 M a r c h

Thu 2 I E
I E
Fri 3 IE
I E
Sat 4 I E
P I E
Sun 5 PI E
PI E
Mon 6 XE

Tue 7

Wed 8
EX
Thu 9 EPI
EPI
Fri 10 X I
EP I
Sat 11

Sun 12

Mon 1 3

Tue 14

wed 1 5
I I
Thu 16 I I

Fri 17

Sat 18 P E
P E
Sun 19 P E

Mon 2 0

Tue 2 1

Wed 2 2 E I P
EI
Thu 23 IE
I E
Fri 24

Sat 25

Sun 26

Mon 27 Accident

Tue 2 8 E
E
Wed 2 9

Thu 3 0

Fri 31

Sac 1 A p r i l

Sun 2 P E
P £
Mon 3

Tue 4

Figure 18. Biorhythms of F-84 Pilot Killed in a Crash in the Area

Antichassia Tricalon on March 27, 1978 While Flying in Actual
Weather.
 Low Neutral Line High

Mon 2 7 F e b r u a r y I I E P
I 1 E P
Tue 28 I | E P
I I E P
Wed 1 M a r c h I | E P
I I E P
Thu 2 I I E P
I 1 E P
Fri 3 I X P
I X P
Sat 4 I E I P
I E 1 P
Sun 5 I E 1 P
I E X
Mon 6 I E X
E I P
Tue 7 E I P
E IP
Wed 8 E P I
E P I
Thu 9 EP I
E P I
Fri 10 EP X
X
Sat 11 PE 1 I
PE 1 I
Sun 12 P E 1 I
P F 1 I
Mon 1 3 P E 1 I
P E 1 I
Tue 14 P E 1 I
P E 1 1
Wed 1 5 PE 1 I
PE 1 I
Thu 16 PE 1 I
PE 1 I
Fri 17 X I
X I
Sat 18 1 EP I
I EP I
Sun 19 I EP I
I E P I
Mon 20 1 E P I
I E P I
Tue 21 I EIP
I IE P
Wed 22 I I E P
1 I EP
Thu 23 I I EP
1 I x
Fri 24 | I PE
| I P E
Sat 25 | I P E
| I P E
Sun 26 | I P E
I X P E
Mon 27 I Accident X > P E
I I P E
Tue 2 8 I I P E
I X E
Wed 2 9 I X E
I P 1 E
Thu 30 I P 1 E
I P 1 E
Fri 31 I P X
IP X
Sat 1 April IP E 1

Figure 19. Biorhythms of F-84 Pilot Killed in a Crash in the

Mountain Area of Antichassia Tricalon on March 27, 1978 While
Flying in Actual Weather as No. 1 in a Formation.
 Neutral Line High

Fri 20 October I
p I
Sat 21 p I I

Sun 22

Mon 23

Tue 24

Wed 25

Thu 26 I P E
I P E
Fri 27 I X
I E P
Sat 28 I E P

Sun 29

Mon 30

Tue 31
I E
Wed 1 November

Thu 2 I E |
I E I
Fri 3 I E I P
IE X
Sat 4 EI X
E I P I
Sun :> E IP |
E P I |
Mon 6 E P I I
I I
Tue / E P
E P
Wed 8

Thu 9
PE
Fri 10 P E
P E
Sat 11 P E
P E
Sun 12 P E I
P E |
Mon 13

Tue 14

Wed 15 P, E
P, E
Thu 16 I EP I
I EP I
Fri 17 I EP I
I E P I
Sat 18 I E P I
I «. X
Sun 19 I IE P
I I E P
Mon 20 I I E P
I I EP
Tue 21 Accident I I EP
I I X
Wed 22 I I PE
I I P E
Thu 23 I I P E
X P E
Fri 24

Figure 20. Biorhythms of F-104 Pilot killed in a Sea Crash Near

the Area of Loutra Kilinis on November 21, 1978 While on a Night
Mission.
 113

Neutral Line

Wed 2 3 April

Thu 24
E X
Fri 25 X P

Sat 26
P I
Sun 27 P I

Mon 28

Tue 2 9
E X
Wed 30 E X

Thu 1 May XI
PIE
Fri 2 P IE
P I E
Sat 3 P I E
I E
Sun 4 I E
I E
Hon 5
I E
Tue b I E

Wed 7 I E
I E
Thu 8 I E
X E
Fri 9
I X
Sat 10 I E

Sun 11

Hon 12

Tue 13 P EI
EX
Wed 14 EI P

Thu 15

Fri 16

Sat 17 IE
IE
Sun 18 IE
I E
Mon 19 I F
I E
Tue 20

Wed 21

Thu 2 2

Fri 23 E Accident
E
Sat 24

Sun 25

Mon 2 6

Tue 27

Figure 21. Biorhythms of RF-5 Pilot Killed after His Aircraft

Crashed in the Area of Lamia on May 23, 1980 While on a Duty
Mission.
 114
the physical and low in the intellectual cycle. The accident is
represented by patterns 1, 2, and 5.
A pilot was killed on June 6, 1980 after his F-1 aircraft
crashed in the area of the island of Milos while he was on a night
mission (see Figure 22). The actual causes are unknown. The
biorhythm interpretation shows low in the physical cycle and high
in the emotional and intellectual cycles. No account prevention
pertains to this flight. As stated before, external causes should be
examined for this type of accident.
Figure 23 shows that the pilot was killed on November 18,
1981 after his F-1 aircraft crashed at sea in the area of Skiropoula
(island Skiros) while he was on a duty mission. The weather was
cloudy. The biorhythmic status of the pilot on that day was a
physical critical period, high on the emotional cycle, and low on
the intellectual cycle. The applicable patterns are 1 and 5.
The pilot in Figure 24 was killed on December 18, 1981 after
his T-33 aircraft crashed close to Souda airport in Crete while he
was on a duty mission. The biorhythms show him one day before
a physical critical period and low on both the intellectual and the
emotional cycles. Again, patterns 1 and 5 are applicable.
In the accident on December 15, 1982 (see Figure 25), the
pilot was killed after his F-4 aircraft crashed in the area of Saint
John Apidea Lakonias, while he was on a duty mission. The
pilot's emotional cycle was low and both the physical and the
 115

Neutral Line

Sun 4 Hay

Mon 5

Tue 6

Wed 7

Thu 8

Fri 9

Sat 10

Sun 11

Mon 12

Tue 1 3

Wed 14

Thu 15 I X
IPE
Fri 16 IPE
XE
Sat 17 XE

Sun IB

Mon 19 EX
E IP
Tue 20 E IP
L I P
Wed 2 1 E I
E I
Thu 22
E I
Fri 23 E I

Sat 24

Sun 25

Mon 2 6

Tue 27 I E P
I E F
Wed 28 IE P
I E P
Thu 29 I E P
I E P
Fri 30 I EP
IPE
Sat 31 P IE
P IE
Sun 1 J u n e E IE
E X
Hon 2 P EI
EI
Tue 3 E I
P E I
Wed 4 P

Thu 5

Fri 6 Accident

Sat 7

Sun 8

Mon 9

Figure 22. Biorhythms of F-1 Pilot Killed on a Night Mission on

June 6, 1980.
 Neutral Line

Fri 16 October

Sac 17

Sun 18

Mon 19

Tue 20

Wed 21

Thu 22

Fri 23

Sat 24

Sun 25

Hon 26

Tue 27
P X
Wed 28 I I

Thu 29

Fri 30

Sat 31

Sun 1 November

Mon 2

Tue 3

Wed 4
P E
Thu 5 E f

Fri 6

Sat 7

Sun 8

Mon 9

Tue 10

Wed 11

Thu 12

Fri 13

Sat 14

Sun 15

Mon 16

Tue 17 I E
I
Wed 18 I P
P Accident
Thu 19 P

Fri 20

Figure 23. Biorhythms of F-1 Pilot Killed after His Aircraft

Crashed in the Sea Area of Skiropoula Island on November 18,
1981.
 117

Low Neutral Line High

Wed I B N o v e m b e r I X
IPE
Thu 19 IPE
XE
Fri 20 XE
X
Sat 21 XI
EX
Sun 22 EX
E IP
Mon 2 3 E IP
E I P 1
Tue 2 4 E I P 1
E I P 1
Wed 2 5 EI P |
E I P |
Thu 2 6 E I X
EI X
Fri 27 X | P
X I P
Sat 28 X P
X P
Sun 29 1 X P
1 IE P
Mon 3 0 1 IE P
I IE P
Tue 1 December I IE P
I I E P
Wed 2 1 I E P
1 I E P
Thu 3 1 I EP
I IPE
Fri 4 1 P IE
1 P IE
Sat 5 1 P IE
I P X
Sun 6 I P EI
I P EI
Mon 7 I P EI
X EI
Tue 6 X £ I
P I E I
Wed 9 P I E I
P 1 E I
Thu 10 P | E I
P 1 E I
Fri 11 P 1 E I
P 1 E I
Sat 12 P X I
P X I
Sun 13 P E I I
P E 1 I
Mon 14 P E | I
P E X
Tue 15 P £ X
P E I 1
Wed 16 EP I |
E E I 1
Thu 17 F, X I
E P I 1
Fri 18 F I P 1
Accident -- - E - - I > P |
Sat 19 P E I X
P E I X
Sun 20 E I 1 p
EI 1 p
Mon 2 1 IE 1 p
I F 1 p
Tue 2 2 I E 1 p
I E 1 P
Wed 2 3 I E 1 P
I £ 1 P
Thu 24 I E | P
I E | P
Fri 25 I E | P

Figure 24. Biorhythms of T-33 Pilot Killed near Souda Airport in

Krete on December 18, 1981.
 Low Neutral Line High

Fri 12 N o v e m b e r F P | I
E P | I
Sat 13 E X I
E X I
S u n 14 E | P I
E | P I
Mon 15 E | P I
E 1 X
Tue 16 E I I P
E I I P
Wed 17 E | I P
F 1 I P
Thu 18 F 1 I P
E 1 I P
Fri 19 E I I P
E X P
Sat 20 E X P
E I I P
Sun 21 X I P
I E | P
Mon 22 I X P
I X P
Tue 23 I | E P
I 1 x
Wed 24 I | P E
I X E
Thu 25 I X E
I P 1 E
Fri 26 I P | E
I P | E
Sat 27 I P 1 E
I P, 1 E
Sun 28 I P 1 E
I P 1 E
Mon 29 X I E
PI 1 E
Tue 30 P I 1 E
P I | E
Wed 1 D e c e m b e r P I 1 E
P I | F
Thu 2 P I | E
P I 1 E
Fri 3 P I 1 F
P I 1 £
Sat 4 P I | E
P I | E
Sun S PI 1 E
PI | E
Mon 6 X
X
Tue 7 E | IP
E | I P
Wed 8 E | I P
E I I P
Thu 9 E 1 I P
E 1 I P
Fri 10 F I I P
E 1 I P
Sat 11 E | I P
E 1 I P
Sun 12 F I I P
E | IP
Mon 13 E 1 X
£ 1 P I
Tue 14 E 1 P I
E I P I
Wed 15 Acclend P I
F | P I
Thu 16 E I P I
E | P I
Fri 17 E | P I
P E X I
Sat 18 P E X I

Figure 25. Biorhythms of F-4 Pilot Killed after His Aircraft

Crashed near the Area of Saint John Apidea Lakonias on
December 15, 1982.
 119
intellectual cycles were in a high position. There is no explanation
for this accident with the biorhythm cycles; however, external
causes should be investigated.
The 23rd sample pilot, (see Figure 26) was killed on July 8,
1983 after his A-7 aircraft crashed close to the village Skonizo in
Chania, Crete while he was performing acrobatic maneuvers as
Number 2 in a two aircraft formation. The biorhythms show that
he was one day before a double critical period on the physical and
on the emotional cycles and low in the intellectual cycle. Patterns
1, 2, 4, and 5 are important to the understanding of this accident.
The pilot in Figure 27 was killed on May 2, 1984 after his F-
4 aircraft crashed in the area of Dermatas Agiocabou Larissas, a
few minutes after take-off. The weather was cloudy. He was one
day before a critical period on the intellectual cycle, low on the
emotional cycle and high on the physical cycle. Possible
application for this accident are patterns 1, 3, and 5.
The following accident does not have any biorhythmic
explanation. The pilot (see Figure 28) was killed on July 11, 1985
after his F-4 aircraft crashed while he was flying a low level flight
mission. The biorhythm shows low for the physical cycle and high
on both the emotional and the intellectual cycles. None of the
established patterns apply. A low level flight is not a regular
mission and other parameters could have interacted in this
accident.
 Low Neutral Line High

Wed 8 J u n e P X E
P X E
Thu 9 P 1 I E
P 1 IE
Fri 10 P 1 E I
P 1 E I
Sac 11 P X I
P X I
Sun 12 P E 1 I
P E 1 I
Mon 13 P E 1 I
P E 1 I
Tue 14 E P 1 I
E P 1 I
Wed 15 E P 1 I
E P 1 I
Thu 16 h I
E I
Fri 17 F 1 P I
E 1 P I
Sat 18 E 1 P I
E P I
Sun 19 £ P I
E X
Mon 20 E I P
E I P
Tue 2 1 E I P
E I P
Wed 22 E I I P
E I I P
Thu 2 3 E I I P
E 1 I P
F r i 24" E 1 I P
E X P
Sat 25 X P
IX P
Sun 2 6 I | E P
I | EP
Mon 27 I I P E
I X £
Tue 28 I X £
I P 1 E
Wed 2 9 I P 1 E
I P 1 E
Thu 30 I P E
I P F
Fri 1 Ji iy I P E
IP E
Sat 2 IP E
X E
Sun 3 X E
X E
Mon 4 PI E
X E
Tue 5 X E
IP £
Wed 6 IP E
I p E
Thu 7 I P 1 E
I P 1 E
Fri 8 I P 1 E

Sat 9
Accident
P, E
> I
I
P
X
| £

P, E I X
Sun 10 IE | P
E l l P
Mon 11 E X P
E X P
Tue 12 E 1 I P
E I I P
Wed 13 E 1 I P
E 1 I P
Thu 14 £ 1 I P

Figure 26. Biorhythms of A-7 Pilot Killed Near the Village

Skonizo of Chania Crete on July 8, 1983 While Performing
Acrobatic Maneuvers.
 Low Neutral Line High

Wed 2 8 M a r c h P EI |
P E I |
Thu 2 9 P F I |
P F, I |
Fri 30 P E I I
X I I
Sat 31 EP X
E P X
Sun 1 A p r i l E P | I
E P | I
Mon 2 F P | I
E P | I
Tue 3 F P | I
E P | I
Wed 4 F X I
E X I
Thu 5 E | P I
E | P I
Fri 6 E | P 1
E [ P I
Sat 7 E I P I
E I P I
Sun 8 P I
PI
Mon 9 E X
£ IP
Tue 10 E IP
E I P
Wed 11 E I P
E I P
Thu 12 IX
IP E
Fri 13 IE E
PI E
Sat 14 PI E
P I E
Sun 15 P I E
X I E
Mon 16 X I E
P X E
Tue 17 P X E
p I 1 F
Wed 18 p I 1 E
p I 1 E
Thu 19 p I 1 E
p I 1 E
Fri 20 p I 1 E
p I t E
Sat 21 p I 1 E
p I 1 E
Sun 22 P I X
PI X
Mon 23 IP E |
I P £ 1
Tue 24 I P E |
I P E |
Wed 25 I E P |
I E P |
Thu 26 I F P |
I E P |
Fri 27 X X
E I X
Sat 28 E I | P
E I | P
Sun 2 9 E I I P
E I 1 P
Mon 30 E 1 | P
E I 1 P
Tue 1 Ma y E I I P
E I 1 P
Wed 2 F I I P
Accident - E > I | P
Thu 3 I E X P
I E X P
Fri 4 E 1 I P
E I I P
Sat 5 E 1 I P

Figure 27. Biorhythms of F-4 Pilot Killed after His Aircraft

Crashed in the Area of Agiocabou of Larissas on May 2, 1984.
 122

Low Neutral Line High

Thu b June E I P
F I P
Fri 7 r I P
E I P
Sat 8 E PI
F P I
Sun 9 P I
E P I
Mon 10 £ P I
E X I
Tue 11 X I
P X
Wed 12 P 1 E
P 1 E
Thu 13 P 1 E
P 1 E
Fri 14 p 1 : i
p 1 E I
Sat 15 p 1 E I
p 1 X
Sun 16 p 1 I E
p 1 I E
Hon 17 p 1 I E
V 1 I E
Tue 18 p 1 I E
p 1 I E
Wed 19 P 1 I E
P 1 I E
Thu 2 0 P 1 I E
P X F
Fri 21 P X E
PI 1 E
Sac 22 I X E
I X E
Sun 23 I 1 P E
I 1 P £
Hon 24 I 1 E P
I 1 E P
Tue 25 r X P
I X P
Wed 2 6 i E 1 P
I E 1 P
Thu 2 7 l E 1 P
I E 1 P
Fri 28 i E 1 P
i E 1 P
Sat 2 9 1 F 1 P
I E 1 P
Sun 30 IE 1 P
X 1 P
Hon 1 July EI 1 P
E I 1 P
Tue 2 E I 1 P
E 1 1 P
Wed 3 E i 1 P
E I X
Thu 4 r I X
E I ? 1
Fri 5 F X 1
E P I 1
Sat 6 X I 1
P £ I 1
Sun ' P E X
P E X
Mon 6 P E 1 I
P E 1 I
Tue 9 E P X r
E P X i
Wed 10 P 1 E i
P 1 E I
Thu 11 Accident — - P -
>11 E I
P £ 1
Fri 12 P 1 E I
P 1 E I
Sat 13 P 1 E I

Figure 28. Biorhythms of F-4 Pilot Killed on a Low Level Flight

Mission on July 11, 1985.
 123
In Figure 29, the graph corresponds to a pilot who was killed
on September 11, 1985 after his A-7 aircraft crashed in a
mountain area of Pindos while he was on a low level flight
mission. The weather was cloudy. The pilot was in a critical
period on the intellectual cycle, low on the emotional cycle and
high on the physical cycle. Patterns 1, 3, and 5 apply.
The accident depicted in Figure 30 has a clear biorhythmic
explanation. The pilot was killed on January 7, 1987 after his F-4
aircraft crashed while he was flying a night navigation mission.
The pilot was in a double critical period for the intellectual and
the emotional cycle (an advancement of the calendar day is
accepted), and high on the physical cycle. Patterns 1, 2, 3, 4, and
5 apply.
The profile of the aviator in Figure 31 shows that the pilot
was killed on May 7, 1987 after his RF-4 aircraft crashed while he
was flying a low level mission. He was low on the intellectual
cycle and high on both physical and emotional cycles. One pattern
that could apply in this accident is the Number 5 accident
prevention pattern.
In Figure 32, the pilot was killed on September 23, 1987
after his F-104 aircraft crashed soon after take-off in the area of
Larissa. The biorhythms show a low phase on all three cycles.
Pattern 5 could be applied to this accident.
 124

Neutral Line

Hod 7 August PI E
P EI
Thu 8 P E I
P E
Fri 9 P E
P E
Sat 10 P E
P F
Sun 11 P E
PE
Mon 12 PE
EP
Tue 1 3 E P
E P
Wed 14 E P

Thu 1 5

Fri 16

Sat 17

Sun 18

Mon 1 9

Tue 20

Wed 2 1

Thu 22

Fri 23 I E P
I E P
Sat 24 I E P
I EP
Sun 25 I P E
P E
Mon 26 P E

Tue 27

Wad 2 8

Thu 2 9

Fri 30

Sat 31
I P
Sun 1 September I P

Mon 2

Tue 3

Wed 4 PI
X
Thu 5
IP E
Fri 6 IP E
IEP
Sat 7 E I P
E I P
Sun 8 I. I
I
Mon 9 P
P
Tue 10

Wed 11 I Accident
I
Thu 12

Fri 13

Figure 29. Biorhythms of A-7 Pilot Killed on September 11, 1985

While Flying a Low Level Mission.
 125

Neutral Line High

Wed 17 December

Thu 18

F r i 19

Sat 20

Sun 21

Mon 22

Tue 23

Wed 24

Thu 25

Fri 2 6

Sat 27

Sun 28

Mon 2 9

Tue 30

Wed 31

Thu 1 January

Fri 2

Sat •*

Sun 4

Mon 5

Tue 6

Wed 7
E X
Thu 8 EP |

Fri 9

Sat 10

Sun 11
IPE
Mon 12 IPE

Tue 13

Wed 14

Thu 1 5 EX
E IP
Fri 16 £ IP
E I P
S'at 17 E I P
E I
Sun 18 EI
E I
Mon 19 E I
EI
Tue 20

Wed 21 E, I
E, I
Thu 2 2 Accident

Fri 23

Figure 30. Biorhythms of F-4 Pilot Killed on January 22,

1987 While Flying a Night Navigation Mission.
 Low Neutral Line High

Sun 5 April I P X
I ]P X
Mon 6 I X E
I X E
Tue 7 I 1 P E
I 1 P E
Wed 8 I 1 P E
I 1 P E
Thu 9 X P E
X PE
Fri 10 1 I X
1 I X
Sat 11 1 I EP
1 I X
Sun 12 1 I X
1 I X
Mon 13 1 I X
1 I PE
Tue 14 1 X E
1 P X
Wed IS 1 P E I
1 P F I
Thu 16 1 P E I
1 P E 1
Fri 17 1 P E I
X E I
Sat 18 X E I
P 1E I
Sun 19 P X I
P X I
Mon 20 P E 1 I
P E 1 I
Tue 21 P E 1 I
P E 1 I
Wed 22 P E 1 I
P E 1 I
Thu 23 P E 1 I
P F 1 I
Fri 24 P E 1 I
X 1 I
Sat 25 EP 1 I
E P X
Sun 2 6 E P X
E P I 1
Mon 27 E ]? I 1
E P I 1
Tue 28 E I P 1
E I P 1
Wed 29 F I X
X X
Thu 30 I E 1 P
I E 1 P
Fri 1 May I E 1 P
I E 1 P
Sat 2 I E 1 P
I E 1 P
Sun 3 E I X P
E I X P
Mon 4 I 1 E P
I 1 E P
Tue 5 I 1 E P
I 1 E P
Wed 6 I 1 E P
I 1 E P
Thu 7 Accident I X
I
1
1 P E
Fri 8 I 1 P E
I 1 P E
Sat 9 I 1 P E
I 1 P E
Sun 10 I 1 P E
I X E
Mon 11 I X E
IP| E
Tue 12 I X E

31. Biorhythms of RF-4 Pilot Killed after His Aircraft

on May 7, 1987 While Flying a Low Level Mission.
 Neutral Line

Fri 21 August

Sat 22

Sun 23

Mon 24
IE
Tue 25 I F

Wed 2 6

Thu 27 E P
P E
Fri 28

Sat 29

Sun 3 0

Mon 31

Tue 1 S e p t e m b e r

Wed 2

Thu 3

Fri 4

Sat 5

Sun 6

Mon 7

Tue 8 I E
P EI
Wed 9 E P I
E PI
Thu 10

fri 11

Sat 12

Sun 13

Mon 14 P I
P I
Tue 15

Wed 1 6

Thu 17

Fri 18

Sat 19

Sun 20
I E P
Mon 2 1 I E P
PE I
T u e 22 P E I
P E I
Wed 23 Accident -- P E I >
P X
Thu 24 P I E

Fri 25

Figure 32. Biorhythms of F-104 Pilot Killed after the Aircraft

Crashed in the Area of Larissa on September 23, 1987 While on
Take-off.
 128
Another case with a clear biorhythmic explanation is the
accident that is shown in Figure 33. The pilot was killed on
December 16, 1987 after his F-5 aircraft crashed at sea in the Gulf
of Pagassiticos of Volos, while he was performing an instrument
descent and Ground Control Approach (GCA). The pilot was on a
critical period on the intellectual cycle and low in both of the other
cycles. Patterns 1, 3, and 5 apply to this accident.
On February 10, 1988, the pilot in Figure 34 was killed after
his F-1 aircraft crashed while he was on a duty mission. He was
low on the intellectual and the emotional cycles and high on the
physical cycle. The pattern 5 could apply for this accident and the
low phase of the emotional cycle could be an additional reason.
The pilot in Figure 35 was killed on September 14, 1988
after his F-5 aircraft crashed while he was performing dog fight
maneuvers. He was one day before an emotional critical period,
low on the intellectual cycle, and high on the physical cycle. The
patterns for this accident are 1, 2, 4, and 5.
The pilot in Figure 36 was killed on March 7, 1989 after his
T-33 aircraft crashed in the area of Elefsina Attikis shortly after
take-off. The weather was cloudy. He was in a critical period on
the intellectual cycle, low on the emotional cycle and high in the
physical cycle. The prevention patterns applying to this accident
are 1 and 3.
 Neutral Line

Thu 12 N o v e m b e r E I I P
E I I P
Fri 13 E X P
E X P
Sat 14 E | IP
E X I
Sun 1 5 E X I
E P | I
Mon 1 6 E P I I
E P | I
Tue 17 E P | I
E P | I
Wed 18 x |
P E |
Thu 1 9 P E |
P E |
Fri 20 P E |
P E |
Sat 21 P E |
E I
Sun 22

Mon 2 3 P | E I
P I E I
Tue 24 P | E I
P I E I
Wed 2 5 p | E I
P | X
Thu 2 6 X I E
X I F
Fri 27 | P I E
I P I E
Sat 28 | I P E
I I P E
Sun 2 9 | I P E
X P E
Mon 30 X PE
I | X
Tue 1 December I | E P
I I E P
Wed 2 I | E P
I I E P
Thu 3 I | E P
I | E P
Fri 4 I | E P
I | E P
Sat 5 I | E P
I I E P
Sun 6 I X P
I X P
Mon 7 I E | P
I E X
Tue 8 I E X
I E P |
Wed 9 I E P |
I E P |
Thu 10 I E P |
X P I
Fri 11 EX |
EP I I
Sat 12 X I I
X I I
sun 13 x i |
x I I
Hon 14 PE I I
X I I
Tue 15 X I I
EP I |
Wed 16 I Accident EP > X
I EP X
ThU 17 E P | I
E P | I
Fri 18 E p | I

Figure 33. Biorhythms of F-5 Pilot Killed at Night after

His Aircraft Crashed at Sea in Gulf of Pagassiticos on December
16, 1987 While Performing an Instrument Descent.
 130

Low Neutral Line High

Wed 6 J a n u a r y P I f
P I £
Thu 7 PI E
I I E
Fri 8 I P T
I P E
Sat 9 I X E
1 E
Sun 10 I P E
I E P
Mon 11 I X P
I P
Tue 12 I E P
I E P
Wed 13 I E P
I E P
Thu 14 I E P
I E P
Fri 15 I E P
X P
Sat 16 r i P
E I P
Sun 17 E I P
E I P
Mon 18 E I P
E I P
Tue 1 9 E I P
£ P I
Wed 2 0 E P I
E I X
Thu 2 1 r X
E P X
Fri 22 E P 1 I
I P I I
Sac 23 EP 1 I
P E 1 I
Sun 24 P £ 1 I
P E 1 I
Mon 2 5 P X I
P X I
Tue 2 6 P 1 £ I
P 1 E I
Wed 27 P 1 E I
P 1 E I
Thu 2 8 P 1 £ I
P 1 E I
Fri 29 P 1 E I
P 1 E I
Sat 30 P 1 F I
P 1 X
Sun 3 1 P 1 X
P 1 I E
Mon 1 F e b r u a r y X I E
X I E
Tue l 1 P I E
1 P I F
Wed 3 1 P I E
1 X E
Thu 4 1 I P E
1 I E P
Fri 5 1 I F P
1 I E P
Sat 6 1 I E P
X E P
Sun 7 X E P
I 1 E P
Mon 8 E I X P
E I X P
Tue 9 I £ 1 P
I E 1 P
E — P
Wed 10 Accident
I £
1
1
-- P
>
Thu 11 I £ 1 P
I E 1 P
Fri 12 I E 1 P

Figure 34. Biorhythms of F-1 Pilot Killed after His Aircraft

Crashed on February 10, 1988.
 Neutral Line

Fri 12 August p I
p I
Sat 13 p I
p I
Sun 14

Mon 15

Tue 16
I PE
Wed 17 E I P
I P
Thu 18 I P
I P
Fri 19 I P
I P
Sat 20 I P
I P
Sun 21 I P
IP
Mon 22 X
P I
Tue 23 P I

Wed 24

Thu 25

Fri 26

Sat 27

Sun 28

Mon 29 £ P
P E
Tue 30

Wed 31

Thu 1 September

Fri 2

Sat 3

Sun 4

Mon 5

Tue 6

Wed i

Thu 8

Fri 9

Sat 10

Sun 11

Mon 12

Tue 13

Wed 14
Accident
Thu 15 E

Figure 35. Biorhythms of F-5 Pilot Killed after His Aircraft

Crashed on September 14, 1988 While Performing Dog Fight
Maneuvers.
 Neutral Line

Sat 4 February E P
E P
Sun 5

Mon 6

Tue i February

Wed 8

Thu 9

Fri 10

Sat 11

Sun 12 IP
E I P
Mon 13 E I P
E I P
Tue 14 E I P
X P
Wed 15 I X
I P E
Thu 16 I P E
I P E
Fri 17 I P E

Sat 18

Sun 19

Mon 20 P I
P I
Tue 21 P I
P I
Wed 22 P I
P I
Thu 23 P I
P I
Fri 24 P I
PI
Sat 25

Sun 26 I P
I P
Mon 27 I P
P E
Tue 28 E P
I E
Wed 1 March I E
X
Thu 2 E I
E I
Fri 3 E I
E
Sat 4 E
E
Sun 5 E
E
Mon 6 E
E
Tue 7 I Accident E
I
Wed 8

Thu 9

Fri 10
I P
Sat 11 PI
P I

Figure 36. Biorhythms of T-33 Pilot Killed after His Aircraft

Crashed in the Area of Eleusina Attikis on March 7, 1989 While
on Take-off.
 133
Aviation accidents can not be stopped (or avoided) but can be
minimized. Thus, every effort should be made and directed to that
aim. In this section, real accidents were analyzed, and this
analysis revealed hypothetical accident prevention patterns. The
described patterns, during the accident history description, show
accidents that could have been avoided by applying biorhythm
theory and other accidents that suggest an external factors
examination such as emergency procedures, education, or company
policy. Safety departments should study the pilots' accidents from
various points of view without bias.

Biorhythm Theory Versus Biological Rhythms

The following discussion presents controversial topics in
biorhythm theory. After the presentation of the controversial
topics, questions would follow requesting answers from the
biorhythm theory in order to demonstrate the weaknesses of the
theory. The researcher does neither intend to support the theory
nor reject it. The controversial topics will be presented without
any bias on either side. Readers should feel free to make their
own conclusions.
The biorhythm theory says that the three cycles begin at the
time of one's birth. Then, they run regularly and inexorably until
the moment of death without being affected by any crucial strong
event through life (Cohen, Smith). A study about development of
 134
the rhythm in infants finds for the heart that the tiny fetal heart
begins to beat about four weeks after conception when it is no
larger than the head of a pin. It is concluded that the rhythm
first makes its appearance not until 4 to 5 weeks after birth, when
the nighttime rate begins to decrease (Palmer, Brown & Edmund,
1976).
The assertion that the biorhythm cycles are exactly 23, 28,
and 33 days long in everyone runs contrary to what genetics
teaches us. Variability among individuals is the rule. Consider
the menstrual cycle: It averages 29.5 days in length but varies
from about 10 to as much as 55 days among individual women
(Palmer, 1982). A question that could arise is, why do the
biorhythm cycles begin at the date and time of birth while the
rhythms of the infant heart begin earlier? Why has the infant's
heart been working for 8 months by the time of birth and the
regularity of the heartbeat is not established until 4 to 5 weeks
after birth?
Furthermore, there is no logical reason for all three
biorhythms to start together on the day of birth. Why not when
egg and sperm fuse or at the moment the embryo implants in the
uterus? Other known biological cycles often do not start at birth.
The daily metabolic rhythm of the chick begins fourteen days
before it hatches; the human daily rhythm of sleeping and
wakefulness does not begin until many weeks after birth. Also, if
 135
biorhythms did start in unison as a child exits from the birth
canal, the consequences should be dire. By definition, this would
be a triple-critical period! And within the next seventeen days the
newborn would experience three more critical periods, for a total of
six critical points in just over two weeks. Not a good augury for
infant survival (Palmer, 1982).
The biorhythm theory accepts that the biorhythm cycles have
different lengths (23-, 28-, 33-days for the physical, emotional and
intellectual correspondingly). Also, it accepts two days as a critical
period (one at the beginning and the other at the middle of the
cycle) for each one biorhythm cycle (Gittelson, Thommen, Cohen,
Smith). A question that arises is why is the critical period for
each cycle 24 hours even though these cycles have different
lengths? Why should the body be affected equally for a 24 hour
period even though each cycle affects a different function of the
human body? Why do symptoms not start hours before the critical
period? How is it possible for a critical period to start at an exact
time? Is there a clock or a trigger that at an exact minute
changes the physical, emotional and the intellectual status?
Biorhythm theory states that the three cycles follow a sinus
cycle pattern with high and low phase. Also, a critical period
starts at the day of the phase alteration. Our body temperatures
are lowest each day in the early morning hours and highest at
about 8:00 p.m.(98.6° F is a daily average). Halfway through the
 136
day we do not momentarily risk boiling to death, and halfway
down from the 8:00 p.m. high we do not briefly risk freezing solid.
The notion of a critical period (or point) makes no scientific sense.
Known biological cycles show smooth, uninterrupted transitions
from high to low points and back. In all known biological cycles,
the halfway points between highs and lows are simply uneventful
intermediates-nothing more, nothing less (Palmer, 1982).

Discussion
The data were analyzed for a 24 hour critical period. In the
pool of critical period accidents were included two accidents that
had three hours elapsed time from the biorhythm critical period,
and a third that had 12 hours elapsed time, but coincided with
researcher's assumptions. The accidents that were about 12 hours
before a critical period were not included. These type of accidents
were 8 in number.
The results of this study support the research hypothesis
that the days of the aircraft accidents are highly related to the
pilots' critical periods. It was anticipated that more accidents than
expected would occur on critical periods. The null hypothesis
which was tested with the standardized test statistic for proportion
is that the proportion of accidents on critical periods is what would
be predicted if accidents were distributed randomly over critical
and non-critical periods. The null hypothesis is rejected for both
 137
5% and 1% significance level and the alternative hypothesis, that
the proportion of accidents on critical periods is greater than what
would be predicted if accidents are distributed randomly over
critical and non-critical periods, is valid. Thus, the result confirms
the biorhythm theory as a causal factor in aircraft accidents.
The expected probability of accidents on a critical period is
33 x .20356 which represents 6.717%. The observed number of
accidents in critical periods is 15.
The results of this study show that the probability for an
accident to occur during a critical period is 15 x 100/33 which
represents 45.45% probability. This result is very close to the
41.75% results derived by Jacob Sanhein in a 776 case accident
study (Hirsh, 1976), and to the 49% results obtained by Major Carl
Weaver Jr. (1974) from an investigation of Army aviation
accidents.
Of the accidents that occurred on a critical period, 66.66%
happened during instrument flights. The high rate of instrument
flight accidents were unexpected since the plethora of the Air
Force missions are non-instrument flights under VFR conditions
(there are more sunny than cloudy days in Greece).
A significant number of low phase accidents were found on
the intellectual cycle [11H vs 22L (16L + 6CP)1 (see Table 13).
The percentage of total accidents occurring in a low phase or
critical period of the intellectual cycle amounted to 66.66%. Also,
 138
in the instrument flights most of the accidents occurred on the
intellectual cycle (see Table 11). This result suggests that the
intellectual cycle may be the most important cycle in our life.
Also, Donnelly (1977) in his study claims that it was surprising for
him that differences were found with the intellectual cycle since
both Gittelson and Thommen do not give it much attention and
consider the cycle to play a non-dominant role. Tarek, et al (1977)
found on the intellectual cycle a high frequency of events on
critical periods in the data for automobile accidents.
The researcher does not discuss patterns of the other cycles
that have been found in the study because the sample is too small
in these results to be significant. Thus, the physical and
emotional biorhythm cycles did not show any pattern to be
discussed.
Thommen, Smith, Gittelson Cohen and others refer
incorrectly to the middle critical period on the three biorhythm
cycles. They do this because they miscalculate the beginning of
the middle critical period. Many studies have been done using
these assumptions—it is reasonable to copy these incorrect
statements of the theory. Under these conditions, one could
wonder, should accident investigations with inaccurate positions of
the critical periods deserve credit?

Wolcott, et al (1977; in press) in both of their studies,

computed the biorhythms with a critical period at the 11.5 and
 139
16.5 day of the physical and the intellectual cycle. This
computation is one day off of the real critical period and the
biorhythm graph should be wrong. Thus, it is reasonable that
their studies did not confirm the biorhythm theory.
Sacher (1974) in his master's thesis defines the 12th day for
physical and the 17th day for the intellectual as the critical
periods, but the real physical critical period starts from the 12th
day at noon and continues until 13th day at noon and the real
intellectual critical period starts from the 17th day at noon and
continues until 18th day at noon. He was off the computation for
12 critical hours for each cycle. Also, he accepted that there was
not enough information obtained to sort the accidents according to
the time zones they occurred in which varied from 3 hours within
the U.S. up to 13 hours in Vietnam. Sacher's study did not
confirm the biorhythm theory.
The data presented in this study were derived from the
Hellenic Air Force pilots' accidents. Thus, the conclusions cannot
in themselves be extracted and applied to other fields of interest
except if they are similar to the Hellenic Air Force.
 140
Conclusions
Recommendations for Aviation Safety
The results of this study apply primarily to the Hellenic Air
Force fighter pilots but could also be used in organizations similar
to the Hellenic Air Force. The aviation safety patterns (see Table
14), and others from the table's conclusions, should not be used
with everyday activities because they will lose their value. The
researcher believes that everyday activities could and should be
performed without any consideration of the biorhythm cycles.
Thus, stress or anxiety that something will not be done well will
not be created if a critical period is anticipated. A relaxed
situation helps to relieve the mind, body, and emotions from any
form of stress. In significant decisions or in occasionally
dangerous work, the biorhythm charts should be examined. The
same situation should be considered for individual pilots. The
biorhythms should be examined for specific mission characteristics
and particularly for instrument flights under IFR conditions.
There are many dangerous situations that pilots encounter.
They occur so many times that they have become routine for the
pilots and do not create any stress. An example is a slippery
runway. Pilots continue flying even though a bad landing
procedure or faulty brake application could throw them off the
runway. Another example is the ILS minimum descent altitudes.
Pilots should continue to perform these flights although with
 141
extreme care. Still another example is low level flights. The
civilian pilots are prohibited from performing flights below 500
feet, but the Air Force pilots perform them regularly. If the flight
is illegal for a civilian pilot (meaning that it is dangerous under
500 feet), why is it acceptable for an Air Force pilot? Special
training has been given to compensate for any of the above
situations. Thus, we can conclude that critical period flights could
be performed with the same safety as non-critical periods if
additional training has been given for each specific mission.
Charts (tables) with biorhythm accidents should be compiled
by aviation companies, examined meticulously, and revised
regularly. The examination of the critical period accidents should
provide suggestions for specific training or procedures. Also,
patterns for accident prevention should be provided. A typical
example of patterns (rules) is compiled for demonstration on the
previous Table 14.
The flight crew should be briefed on the existence of the
biological rhythms so that more intelligent decisions can be made
about their physical, emotional or intellectual status. However,
these biological rhythms should not be correlated with the
biorhythm theory which accepts fixed days of fluctuation, since
many studies failed to prove that pilots are accident prone in
critical periods.
 142
Wolcott, McMeekin, Burgin, Yanowitch (1977) in their study
propose that even if the theory is not valid, it is not too difficult to
envision a reduction in the number of accidents if workers in
various fields are briefed about the theory. Then extra care needs
to be taken on and around each critical period. Briefings about
biorhythms may act to reduce accidents in much the same manner
as the Hawthorne effect since briefing employees on their
individual biorhythm charts requires worker participation and
demonstrates the concern of management.

Recommendations for Further Studies

The biorhythm is a controversial theory. It has no scientific
explanation but as Gittelson, Smith and others have stated, it
works. Scientists accept biological rhythms but not fixed periods
such as found in biorhythm theory. The researcher feels in a
difficult position to support his opinion with what is scientifically
not acceptable. However, the results have confirmed the
biorhythm theory in this study. Thus, it is recommended that
further study of biorhythm theory and aviation accidents should be
continued under the following restrictions:
1. Experienced pilots should participate and categorize the
accidents that they are aware of. Their opinions should not
always conform with the formal and documented accident
causes.
 143
2. Categories with specific characteristics (such as field target
missions, extreme low level flights, transition flights) should
be covered in separate studies because the peculiarities of
these missions could produce false results.
3. Each study should be performed with the actual hour of birth
and time of accident. Thus, the biorhythm day should be
used.
4. Pilot death time (accident time) should be converted to the
pilot's own birth country time. The conversion is needed in
order to represent the actual days and hours that the pilot
lived. For example, a child is born in Greece at 5:00 a.m.
and then at 10 a.m. of the same day travels to U.S. (a ten
hour trip and a seven hour local time difference). If in the
U.S. at 22:00 (local time) this child has an accident, then the
calculations for the hours of his life should be counted in
Greek time in order to show exactly how many hours he
lived (he was 24 hours old). If not, then a false number
would be calculated (that he was 17 hours old). This
calculation is the most essential for the biorhythm theory.
As soon as one has determined the age of the subject (in days
and hours), then a determination of whether the subject was
in a critical period or not will be made.
5. The research recommends that there should be a flexibility
(interval) between the critical period and the starting hour
 144
that the subjects actually begin to be affected by a critical
period. The biorhythm cycles are different in length; thus,
the intervals between the cycles should be different. The
researcher recommends as reasonable the intervals of 6
hours for the physical cycle (23 days), 9 hours for the
emotional (28 days), and 12 hours for the intellectual cycle
(33 days). These intervals should be extended by 6 hours to
cover double and triple critical periods. These periods are
more dangerous because they are mixed critical periods.
6. New studies should have at least a final pool of 100 accidents
in the critical period available in order to acquire valid
generalizations on accident patterns.
7. More studies should be performed using the demonstrated
accident table analysis or a similar analysis in order to
acquire patterns with critical periods and high or low phase
positions.
8. Further studies must be conducted in order to find a
correlation, if one exists, between the intellectual cycle and
instrument flight accidents. The findings (see Tables 11 and
13) in this study cannot be generalized because the total
amount does not permit generalization.
9. Further investigation should be conducted for the emotional
critical period accidents according to the phase of the other
two cycles. This cycle should be examined to see if it
 145
continues to follow an independent pattern as compared to
the other two cycles (see Table 9).
10. The researcher suggests that the expression of biorhythm
accident in aviation be established with the following
definition: Biorhythm aviation accident is defined as any un-
voluntary deviation of ground or flight rules recorded by any
Aviation Safety Department. These records should include
unconscious actions that result in violation of flight rules, not
following procedures, pilot disorientation, damage in
equipment, and harm to human beings.
11. Biorhythm studies should include not only fatal accidents but
also any "biorhythm accident."
12. One study should be performed with cycles consisting of 21,
26, and 31 days in order to prove the validity of biorhythms.
It is hypothesized that this second study will show fewer
accidents on the critical period than those that have been
found from the biorhythm theory. The reason for this
difference is that, even though the span of the cycles in the
second study would include fewer days, the accidents are
occurring exclusively on the critical periods predetermined by
the biorhythm theory.
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