Army Aviation under the Microscope

[KevinB]

Significant jump in fatal accidents pushes relook.

US Army faces uphill battle to fix aviation mishap crisis

Fiscal 2023 marked the highest death rate for Army soldiers since the U.S. withdrew from Iraq in 2011, with a total of 14 dead across 10 accidents.

www.defensenews.com

 

[Good2Golf]

Significant jump in fatal accidents pushes relook.

US Army faces uphill battle to fix aviation mishap crisis

Fiscal 2023 marked the highest death rate for Army soldiers since the U.S. withdrew from Iraq in 2011, with a total of 14 dead across 10 accidents.

www.defensenews.com

These are key takeaways, and significantly correlates to accident rate…reduced average experience and reduced flying rate:

But McCurry acknowledged the training effort can’t address another issue: the inexperience of pilots.

“We’ve lost a lot of experience that was gained when we were doing the heel-to-toe rotations in Iraq and Afghanistan through natural retirement and attrition,” McCurry said. “There is a known reduction in aviation warrant officer experience.”

The Army also identified flight hours as another issue. Units are unable to use all of the flight hours budgeted each year by Congress because of limitations related to aircraft, fuel and crews.

Getting in flight hours is “so critical,” McCurry said, but it’s not always easy.