(lance smith) wrote in message . com...
Are USAF accidents included in NTSB accident reports/statistics? I'm
not talking about skunkworks or other secret stuff, but what about
cadet trainers?
Purely military accidents are not investigated by the NTSB--the
military investigates their own accidents. Accidents involving both a
military aircraft and a civilian aircraft will be investigated by both
the NTSB and the service involved. The military does not fly under
the auspices of Federal Aviation Regulations however their regulations
are similar and in some ways complement the FARS. Similarly,
government agencies that operate aircraft such as States or Federal
Agencies do not necessarily fall under the restrictions and
regulations of the FARS you and I have to comply with. They sometimes
will investigate their own accidents for internal consumption but
oftentimes they'll "let" the NTSB investigate as they may not have the
resources to do it (unlike the military.) Whether or not a particular
accident gets NTSB scrutiny depends in large part as to under what
authority the flight is conducted. The Air Force has contracted out
much of its "Cadet training" and these operations might be under Part
141 or Part 65 of the FARs which would mean the NTSB would get
involved.