Totally agree with the 3 posts above
And if I had 3 engine failures in my TT of 1200hrs I would have given up flying and would now be sitting on Shoreham beach waiting for the wind to get up
430 engine failure accidents per year in the US GA fleet of about 150,000. This equates to 0.2%.
and as you suggest this is across a huge spectrum of "maintenance practices" and "operating practices".
If one adopts "best practice" - whatever that means in the individual case but certainly it means
not letting your mags go past 500hrs and
not running your engine on condition if the compressions suggest the rings are only just hanging in there but are still legal and hey it only uses 1 litre oil per hour which is within Lyco's limits so it must be OK, etc - then your chances will quite obviously be better than the 0.2%.
One improves them further by flying with fuel in the tanks
Sure one needs to be able to do a forced landing but there are time windows when it just isn't possible and you take your chances. A lot of approaches to airports are firmly in that category...... The rest of the time, you are carrying a life raft, and flying high enough to be able to glide somewhere.