Fred J. McCall wrote:
"St. John Smythe" wrote:

:Fred J. McCall wrote:
:
: I know a number of folks who fly the AV-8B. They don't seem
: particularly terrified at the prospect. The AV-8B isn't particularly
: more dangerous than any other aircraft of the same generation.
:
:Except when hovering, wouldn't you say?
:

No, I wouldn't say. I would say that the AV-8B isn't particularly
more dangerous than any other aircraft of the same generation. Period.


Evidently, the people actually involved did not agree with you, though
they have made great strides recently:


"A decade ago, the AV-8 Harrier was the most accident-prone plane in
America’s arsenal. After a series of deadly accidents killed 45 of his
fellow Marine pilots, engine program manager Lt. Col. Robert Kuckuk of
the Marines’ Harrier program office helped redesign both its engine and
its maintenance program. That program now takes 25 man-hours per flight
hour, but accident rates plunged. At the same time, the AV-8 has found
its niche amidst the urban operations that have characterized Operation
Iraqi Freedom.

After the Harrier’s most recent engine redesign overhaul, serious
accidents dropped from 39 every 100,000 flight hours to 3.17 per 100,000
flight hours in 2001. In Iraq, Harriers have now flown nearly 11,000
hours without a mishap since May 2004."


I based my original statement on history. I will, however, stand
corrected about the current situation.

Mr. McCall should not base his knowledge on the opinions of people who,
for obvious reasons, HAVE to believe in the equipment and also believe
"it can't happen to me."

Dan