{"id":60787,"date":"2019-04-09T02:56:04","date_gmt":"2019-04-09T02:56:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/04\/09\/is-military-aviation-getting-any-safer-new-mishap-data-shows-mixed-results\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T11:19:51","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T11:19:51","slug":"is-military-aviation-getting-any-safer-new-mishap-data-shows-mixed-results","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/04\/09\/is-military-aviation-getting-any-safer-new-mishap-data-shows-mixed-results\/","title":{"rendered":"Is military aviation getting any safer? New mishap data shows mixed results."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Last spring Military Times reported <\/a>that the Navy, Marine Corps, Army and Air Force\u2019s aircraft were in deep trouble. Manned aviation accidents had spiked almost 40 percent<\/a> over the past five years, killing 133 service members since 2013.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More catastrophic crashes<\/a> followed and Congress got laser-focused on the problem. After multiple hearings, lawmakers injected $39.4 billion<\/a> into this year\u2019s budget \u201cto begin to overcome the crisis in military aviation by getting more aircraft in the air.\u201d Capitol Hill also passed legislation creating a National Commission<\/a> on Military Aviation Safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No one expected a quick fix. The 2013 budget cuts \u2014 known as \u201csequestration\u201d \u2014 had contributed to a hollowing of the maintainer force<\/a>, an exodus of skilled pilots and had left aircraft without spare parts, rendering them unable to fly<\/a>. At the same time, intensified air operations against the Islamic State and back-to-back years when Congress was unable to pass a budget on time compounded the problem. The accidents climbed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So now, a year later, and again through multiple Freedom of Information requests, Military Times has obtained updated data <\/a>to report on every major aviation accident that has occurred during the past year to answer the question: Are things getting better?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For too many military families, the answer was no. Military aviation accident deaths hit a six-year high<\/a> in fiscal year 2018, killing another 38 pilots or crew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of those most recent deaths, 24 were killed on training flights. Two were crew killed by rotor blades; another died when an HH-60H Navy Pave Hawk fuel tank dropped and struck him. Eleven died in non-hostile aviation accidents that occurred while they were deployed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For comparison, in that same time frame, 25 service members died in attacks in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those 38 aviation fatalities in 2018 brought the total number of service members killed since 2013 in aviation accidents to 171.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there was good news, too. The total number of military aviation accidents fell last year for the first time since the 2013 budget cuts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Total accidents involving the nation\u2019s manned warplanes \u2014 fighters, tankers, helicopters and bombers \u2014 decreased 12 percent last year, dropping from 903 mishaps in fiscal year 2017 to 794 in fiscal year 2018, according to data updated through fiscal year 2018 and obtained by Freedom of Information Act requests to the Army Combat Readiness Center, the Air Force Safety Center and the Naval Safety Center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Across all platforms, manned and unmanned, the number of accidents fell 10 percent, from 1,239 in fiscal year 2017 to 1,125 in fiscal year 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Military Times has re-published that data in a searchable database which now contains the almost 8,700 manned and unmanned mishaps from fiscal year 2011 through fiscal year 2018. The database can be searched by year, type of aircraft, service and location.<\/p>\n\n\n\t