Naval Flight Mishaps On The Rise

Monday, November 08, 2021 at 07:47 PM ET

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An F/A-18F Super Hornet flies over the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower. USS Dwight D. Eisenhower

Key Takeaways:

Naval Class-A flight mishaps, defined by significant damage (>$2.5M), aircraft destruction, or fatalities, have more than doubled in two years, with 12 incidents involving crewed aircraft in FY2021.
Despite the increase in the *number* of Class-A mishaps, the overall mishap *rate* has remained relatively stable compared to the 10-year average, partly due to rising aircraft component costs reclassifying more incidents as Class-A.
The Naval Safety Center continuously investigates these incidents to implement corrective actions, such as changes to operating instructions and policies, to enhance safety and prevent future mishaps.

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Naval flight mishaps are on the rise, more than double what they were two years ago, according to the Naval Safety Center (NSC).

So far this year, there have been a dozen Class-A flight mishaps of crewed aircraft, up from five reported in fiscal 2019, according to the most recent batch of NSC data. In that same time period, Class-A aviation mishaps have risen to 16 in FY2021, up from eight in fiscal 2019.