Despite a rash of aircraft accidents during the final weeks of fiscal year 1997, the US military completed one of its safest flying years on record. The accident rate was 1.5 accidents per 100.000 flying hours, unchanged from the previous two years. There were 68 major US military accidents, three fewer than during the previous year, and the lowest number since 1958 when the Department of Defense began keeping records. Aviation fatalities also declined, from 116 to 76, the second-lowest figure.
Source: Flight International
