Armed Forces News

The Air Force is studying the causes and rates of aircraft accidents, Air Force Magazine reported April 10. The service wants to determine if the incidents share a common thread, Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Stephen Wilson said, during a conference in Washington, D.C. The study focuses on crashes of relatively low significance, which nevertheless are still deemed important. While more serious, so-called Class-A crashes have declined in recent years, incidents of these Class-C incidents are increasing. Wilson told his audience that the trend is having an impact on readiness.

“We’ve got our safety professionals digging into it, seeing if there are any noticeable trends that we have in our Class-C mishap rates,” Wilson told the audience.