Date: Fri, 6 May 88 15:30:26 EDT
From: mnetor!utzoo!henry@uunet.UU.NET
Subject: Re: Military Aircraft Crashes in Germany

> ... The press says that, in each case, a much worse disaster was only
> narrowly avoided ...  The crashes occured just down the flight path from:
> a nuclear generating station, a munitions dump, and an inhabited village.

I can't speak for the munitions dump and the village, but nuclear-reactor
containment buildings are deliberately designed to survive a direct hit
from a crashing airliner (not as fast as a military jet, in general, but
much, much heavier).

> In all, 35 military aircraft have fallen out of the skies here since 1960.  I
> have no idea how this compares with other countries.

I don't have regional numbers on such losses, but even peacetime military
flying is much more dangerous than most people think.  Flight International
regularly publishes flight-safety reviews that list all known crashes and
related incidents; the annual military safety review, at one line per
occurrence, typically covers a couple of pages.

Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology   {ihnp4,decvax,uunet!mnetor}!utzoo!henry