JimBall,
You are absolutely right, and accident professionals do categorize and pursue all failures, esp those the lead to major accidents. Fatalities have their own reporting niche, but the recognition at any bent metal could have been fatal is not lost on the pros. It does seem to miss ppruner's radar scopes, I agree.
The chain, as explained to me once by a HOMP professional:
10,000 operational anomalies (LOW ALT, HIGH g, RAPID MANEUVER)
100 Operational near misses (near mid-air, red line breach, hard landing)
1 accident