From what remains of my memory, l believe the RAF received 200 Jaguar bombers in the mid 70s, and by the time l left late 80s, 50 of these had been lost in accidents.
Including 1 shot down in error by a RAF phantom with a dicky arming switch, all for the sake of a bit of "Dymo Tape".
4Greens
22nd Aug 2014 08:55
Of a total of around 70 RN Scimitars built nearly fifty percent were written off in accidents. There wasn't even a war on !
dat581
22nd Aug 2014 10:20
Of 20 A-4Gs received by the RAN 10 were lost!
Gemini Twin
22nd Aug 2014 19:54
Yes, but the Aussies are very careless. Probably left them somewhere beyond the black stump.
dat581
22nd Aug 2014 23:21
Nah, mostly just dropped them in the ocean...
Hempy
23rd Aug 2014 06:53
The RAAF bought 115 Mirage III's. 39 crashed (hull loss).
22 ejections,
20 pilots injured.
14 pilots killed.
I think training accidents have decreased rapidly for multiple factors over the last 30 years. Systems have improved. They weren't flown by triple redundant fly-by-wire computers in those days, and 'risk management' was simply a calculation on the chance of dying.
Wander00
23rd Aug 2014 07:37
ISTR 6 fatalities at Valley between Jan and Jun 66, some of which were glide landings (simulated engine failure) in "manual". A Flying Order was issued "Solo student who experience engine failure are to eject, Instructors are to use their discretion and then eject".
exhorder
23rd Aug 2014 13:54
The RAAF bought 115 Mirage III's. 39 crashed (hull loss).
22 ejections,
20 pilots injured.
14 pilots killed.
I think training accidents have decreased rapidly for multiple factors over the last 30 years. Systems have improved. They weren't flown by triple redundant fly-by-wire computers in those days, and 'risk management' was simply a calculation on the chance of dying.
Yep, these figures are more or less the same for all operators of the early generation Mach 2 fighters. The Belgians lost 40% of their Mirage 5 and 36% of their F-104 fleets, the Germans (in)famously lost 292 out of 916 Starfighters delivered, France lost more than 1/3rd of their Mirage IIIE, and the list goes on and on for most air forces, with very few exceptions (Spain comes to mind).
Wasn't different at all on the other side of the fence, by the way. East Germany lost almost 50% of their MiG-19 and 24% of their MiG-21, while flying far fewer hours than Western air forces. AFAIR, the numbers for other WP air forces were similar or even worse.
At least for European air forces, in addition to the reasons you mentioned, a lot of losses were caused by adverse conditions - low-level flight in bad weather and/or at night, with rather primitive navigation aids from today's perspective.
