Do you presume that in 1989 transparency magically appeared? I don't.
However, as time goes on, I'll agree with you that it has improved, and a suitable benchmark can be arrived at. Also agree that "who" is operating can have a significant impact on mishap rates. (heck, that's even true within a given military service ... some squadrons/wings do better at keeping them out of wrecks than others).
But if one looks at the sheer number of aircraft built vs th numbers that are crashing, it gives a good if not perfect insight.. Lets take the An-12 which is the Soviet equivalent to the C-130. 140 were lost to accidents out of a production of 1243 so a little over 11%
The Herc saw 335 crashes out of a production of 2159 so about 15%. Are we claiming that the mostly military Air Force operated An-12s flew much less than the mostly military and Air Force operated C-130s ?
Are you using comparable utilization and readiness rates?
Planes that don't fly don't crash ...
