"We all like to reminisce about the "good ol' days"... but the fact is, fatal accident rates "back then" are also horrendous compared to today, despite the fact that the amount of air travel over the years have grown immensely."
I'm talking of the years 1980's before VNAV/LNAV a/c. If I read your Boeing graph correctly it looks very level for that period; and my memory confirms it. What did not happen too often was a crew, on approach, spearing in with a completely serviceable a/c.