Talk:List of C-130 Hercules crashes

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I find the opening statement a little odd, since the RAF wrote off 9 C-130s, even if it is their most reliable aircraft, that is a very poor record. Civilian aircraft often make it to over 100,000 hours. With the RAF "safe" record, it means one out of every 2.5 airliner would be written before reaching that number. Hudicourt 17:33, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

Not all of the RAF losses were down to reliability issues. Some 'may' have crashed due to pilot error. One was shot down in Iraq and I think one hit a mine on a airstrip in Afghanistan. Talskiddy 20:31, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

The definition given is: "...lost or badly damaged in accidents that happened after the aircrew had taken responsibility for the aircraft. They include accidents during military operations, but exclude aircraft losses caused by 'hostile action'.", and it excludes "accidents to aircraft on MOD Defence Procurement Agency charge" [which I believe means leased or not yet taken into service]. So it looks like any accidents on the ground when the aircraft wasn't in use are discounted, as well as any hostile activity.

the raw data; it predates the 2006 and 2007 losses, doesn't count the 2005 shootdown - which is fair, as it's not indicative of a problem with the aircraft - has the 1999 crash and the 1993 one, and four from before 1974 - we list a 1973, 1972, 1971 & 1969. So the data seems consistent, but we'd presumably see a slightly worse rate if we extended the data to cover all flying hours to date.

As to the high accident rate... well, yes. Military aircraft tend to have a higher accidental loss rate; they're driven harder and often closer to their limits than civilian ones are, simply by the nature of their activity; a lower reliability rate strikes me as not too surprising. Shimgray | talk | 14:56, 18 March 2007 (UTC)