"Dan" wrote in message
...

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."

My wife, a retired Flight Surgeon, had some stuff on the
AV-8 she received at a conference a few years back. IIRC
there was a BIG difference between the A and B models. The
A's were "Lt. Eaters" but the B's were as safe as an
aircraft that operates in that mileau are going to be.