Last March 17, two F-15Cs out of Nellis AFB, Nev., collided in midair during simulated air-to-air combat. The pilots suffered only minor injuries, but one fighter was destroyed when it crashed to the ground. The other sustained moderate damage, The accident was the Air Force's fifth midair collision in less than five months― a sobering event for service officials, who have watched aviation accident rates climb in the past few years. In 2000, USAF had its all-time-best flying safety year. The records in the past three years have been worse― in 2002, much worse. The major aircraft accident rate in 2002 was nearly 30 percent higher than in 2000. Last year proved only somewhat less troubling. Gen. John P. Jumper, Chief of Staff, told Air Force personnel in December 2002 that the service "cannot tolerate, nor sustain, this level of loss."
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