Aviation in Crisis

Military aviation accidents are on the rise

Mishap milestone: Navy and Marine Corps had zero fatal aviation mishaps in FY 2020

It's the first nonfatal year since the service started tracking such mishaps in 1922.

15 months ago

Military aviation mishaps and deaths are declining for the first time in years

The military is bringing down aviation mishap numbers, but dangerous and deadly crashes still plague the services.

19 months ago

Your Military

Fighter accidents rose in 2019, despite overall decline in mishap rates

The Air Force saw a fleetwide decline in the most serious manned aircraft mishaps in fiscal 2019, but the number of serious mishaps increased for fighter and attack aircraft.

Military Times Crash Database, Fiscal 2011 through 2018

Military Times has obtained updated data to report on every major aviation accident that has occurred during the past year.

3 years ago

Propeller cracking fears led Air Force to ground 60 C-130Hs, replace pre-1971 blades

The Air Force found blades manufactured using a different process more than 48 years ago might be more susceptible to corrosion, which could lead to dangerous cracks.

3 years ago

DoD is rethinking what defines a major aviation accident

The Pentagon is considering revisions to the dollar amounts and damage levels that qualify an aircraft accident as a major mishap to better reflect the expense of repairing advanced jets.

3 years ago

Report: Navy jet swaps endangered readiness, pilot retention

Joint strike fighter delays, unplanned-for service-life extensions and other headaches have cut the time pilots spend in the cockpit and reduced their desire to stay in uniform, according to an Inspector General report.

3 years ago

Blue Angels pilot makes emergency landing

The incident happened Tuesday in California.

3 years ago

Flight data recorders likely found from 2 Marine Corps aircraft that crashed off Japan coast

Rescue teams had 30 days from the Dec. 6 crash to find the data recorders.

3 years ago

Two surviving Army pilots are suing Sikorsky over a helicopter crash that killed their crew chief

Two Army pilots and the wife of their fallen crew chief are suing Sikorsky over a deadly 2017 helicopter crash that could have been caused by a manufacturing defect.

3 years ago

Marine Corps CH-53 damaged during ground taxi Class A mishap

It’s the second major aviation mishap for the Corps this month.

3 years ago

Poor maintenance contributed to a devastating C-130 crash. Here’s how the Air Force will make sure it doesn’t happen again.

How did a corroded KC-130T blade escape the Air Force's quality control apparatus?

3 years ago

Investigation blames Air Force and Navy for systemic failures in fatal Marine Corps C-130 crash that killed 16

A corroded propeller was sent through an Air Force maintenance depot but was not repaired.

3 years ago

Report on fatal WC-130 crash reveals troubling maintenance, morale, discipline lapses in Puerto Rico Air Guard wing

A faulty engine, serious maintenance lapses that failed to repair it, and a series of air crew mistakes before and during takeoff led to the horrific WC-130H crash May 2 that killed nine Puerto Rico Air National Guardsmen.

3 years ago

Retired general, former Army secretary named to panel studying military aviation crisis

The independent commission was established after Military Times' in-depth investigation into the sharp rise in aviation accidents.

3 years ago

To up fighter readiness levels, Pentagon looks to retire older planes and fix supply chains

Fleets are going to have to get smaller to get healthier, it appears.

3 years ago

Has safety improved a year after Navy and Marine aviation crisis?

Top Navy, Marine Corps air bosses dish on how they're trying to fix the 2017 aviation crisis.

3 years ago

Air Force T-6 crashes in Texas, crew suffers ‘minor injuries’

The T-6 fleet has been plagued with hypoxia problems.

3 years ago

Skilled worker, parts shortages still hurting Hornet and Growler maintenance, government watchdog finds

The Navy, which is chipping away at a readiness crisis among its fighters and electronic attack aircraft, is being hampered by a shortage of skilled workers, depot capacity and spare parts, a government watchdog found.

3 years ago

GAO: Air Force isn’t meeting availability goals for crucial fixed-wing aircraft

A new report from the Government Accountability Office is sounding the alarm about the Air Force’s ability to fully field several key legacy fixed-wing aircraft in its fleet.

3 years ago

Watchdog report sounds alarm over military aviation readiness

The report found most types of planes surveyed failed to meet availability goals.

3 years ago

Air Force: High ops tempos, lack of aircraft, inexperienced maintainers among mishap risks

A series of one-day safety stand-downs across all flying and maintenance wings has given the Air Force several clues on how to correct a string of troubling — and sometimes fatal — aviation crashes and other mishaps, the service said Monday.

3 years ago

Air Force B-1B bombers to resume flights following ejection seat complaint

Air Force Global Strike Command will resume B-1B Lancer flights this week, following a safety stand-down that began June 7.

4 years ago

The military’s crash investigators faced staff, budget cuts as aviation accidents climbed

Congress continues to try to get to the bottom of the increase in aviation crashes.

4 years ago

Flights to resume at Kadena Air Base after F-15 crash

Following a stand-down at Kadena Air Base, F-15 training flights are scheduled to restart Wednesday.

4 years ago

B-1 makes emergency landing in Hawaii just days before Air Force orders stand-down

The June incident occurred days before the Air Force ordered all Lancers grounded.

4 years ago

Air Force pilot in serious condition after F-15 crash; training sorties halted

Kadena Air Base in Japan has halted local F-15 training operations after one of its Eagle fighters crashed into the ocean south of Okinawa.

4 years ago

Air Force reports three emergency aircraft landings in one week

A U.S. Air Force KC-10 Extender aircraft made an emergency landing at Shannon Airport, Ireland, Sunday.

4 years ago