Objective To analyze the relationship between acute stress reaction and locus of control of pilots after flight accidents of other pilots in the same unit. Methods After two flight accidents, the psychological stress status of the 82 pilots in the same units were examine by Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R), Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS) and Internal, Powerful others and Chances (IPC), and the relationship between the locus of control and the negative psychological reaction was analyzed. Results We found that after two flight accidents 34 (41.46%) pilots in the same unit had physiologic problems, whose main problems were sleep disorder. Psychologically, 24 (29.27%) pilots showed posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD); 3 (3.65%) pilots showed severe anxiety, with SAS scores be higher than 70, and 6 (7.31%) showed severe depression, with SDS scores higher than 69. The negative impacts (anxiety, depression, and acute stress reaction) after the second accident were significantly greater than the first one (P<0.01). The scores of acute stress reaction, anxiety and depression were positively correlated with the powerful others and chance (P<0.05), and negatively correlated with the internal control (P<0.05, P<0.01). Conclusion Locus of control is an important factor to influence the mental health of pilots, and the external control and chance are the main inducement of psychological problem in pilots, and pilots with these mental qualities should be the main targets for mental crisis intervention after flight accidents.