Air Force Mishaps Decline, UAVs Outstrip Others
The Air Force Times notes that aviation mishaps in the US Air Force fell for a second straight year:
Twenty-two major accidents occurred in fiscal 2010, compared with 30 in fiscal 2009. Seven airmen died in crashes, four more than the year before. The most accidents recorded were 2,274 in 1952. The deadliest year was also 1952, when 1,214 crew members and passengers died.
Perhaps more interesting is the comparison between manned and unmanned (or remotely piloted) aircraft:
The accident rate for manned aircraft was 0.72 crashes for every 100,000 flying hours, down from 2009’s record 0.90 accidents, according to figures from the Air Force Safety Center. For RPA, the accident rate was 3.06 incidents for every 100,000 flying hours, less than half 2009’s rate of 6.94 crashes.
UAVs are more than 4 times as likely to have a mishap as are manned aircraft. Some small comfort might be seen in the decline from last year, when the UAV mishap rate was nearly 8 times the manned rate.