AIRCRAFT MISHAP RATES RISE SLIGHTLY

摘要

The Air Force saw the fewest of the three most serious classes of mishaps involving manned aircraft in at least a decade in fiscal 2020. But that silver lining comes with a big asterisk: The number of hours airmen flew in manned aircraft in 2020 also plunged to its lowest level since at least fiscal 2011, to 1.33 million hours. That's lower than the 1.49 million hours flown in fiscal 2019, and about one-third less than the 1.97 million hours flown in 2011. The decline in flight hours-partially caused by the coronavirus pandemic that began unfolding halfway through the fiscal year-meant that the per-flight hour mishap rate actually ticked up slightly last year. This suggests that several years into the Air Force's effort to stem aviation mishaps, the service is still not yet showing progress-and has a long way to go.