Military Aviation Accidents Fall to Record Low

W A S H I N G T O N, Oct. 4 -- The accident rate for military aviation thispast budget year was the lowest ever, but the number of crash deathsrose sharply, mainly because of two Marine Corps trainingaccidents, the Pentagon said Tuesday.

Pentagon spokesman Kenneth Bacon welcomed the lower accidentrate but said it must go lower.

“We won’t rest until we get it down to zero and keep itthere,” he said.

For fiscal 2000, the budget year that ended Sept. 30, there were57 major aviation accidents, compared with 70 a year earlier. Amajor accident is defined as one causing a fatality or aircraftdamage exceeding $1 million.

Aviation accidents as measured per 100,000 flying hours fell to1.23 from 1.54 in 1999.

Bacon said the 1.23 mark was the lowest in the history of U.S.military aviation. Ten years ago it was 2.04 per 100,000 flyinghours.

Army Has Safest FlyersThe Army’s exceptionally low accident rate of .58 was more thanthree times lower than a year earlier, and Brig. Gen. Gene LaCoste,the director of Army safety, said in an interview Tuesday that itwas the lowest in the history of the Army. LaCoste attributed theimprovement in part to greater emphasis on safety by Armycommanders and in part to individuals paying more attention tohazards and risks.

“We’re not taking shortcuts,” LaCoste said.

The rise in casualties in fiscal 2000 was due mainly to twoMarine Corps accidents: an MV-22 Osprey crash in Arizona in Aprilthat killed 19 Marines and the crash of a CH-46 Sea Knighthelicopter off the coast of San Diego last December that killed sixMarines and one sailor.

For the full budget year, the Marines had 30 deaths fromaviation accidents, compared to six in 1999. The Navy’s total rosefrom seven to 17, while the Army’s dropped from 22 in 1999 to four.The Air Force had seven deaths from aviation accidents comparedwith nine in 1999.

The Air Force said its accident rate in 2000, at 1.04 per100,000 flying hours, was the lowest in its history. It was 1.11 in1999 — the year of the 78-day bombing campaign over Kosovo in whichonly two Air Force planes were lost and no pilots were killed.