Major military aviation accidents rose 55% in 2024 compared with four years earlier, and a run of high-profile mishaps in 2025 suggests that the trend may be continuing, according to internal Pentagon data provided to Congress and reviewed by The Associated Press. Class A mishaps, the most severe, resulted in 25 deaths and 14 aircraft destroyed in the first 10 months of the 2024 budget year, AP reported. The Marine Corps saw the sharpest increase, nearly tripling its rate over the period.
Department of Defense reporting rules classify Class A mishaps as death, permanent total disability or high-cost aircraft loss.
Unbiased. Straight Facts.TM
Class A mishaps involve death, permanent total disability or aircraft damage costing at least $2 million to $2.5 million or more, depending on the branch of the U.S. armed forces.
Safety experts told the AP that rising rates rarely stem from a single cause; instead, multiple pressures can erode safety margins over time, from higher operational tempo to platform risk profiles and disrupted flying hours during the pandemic.
What officials say
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., called the rates “incredibly troubling,” and said that Congress needs broader access to accident information to pinpoint root causes, AP reported. The Navy acknowledged the rise and said its aircrews operate in “incredibly complex conditions,” adding that it treats every evolution as a chance to refine training and procedures.
What incidents define 2025?
This year’s mishaps span carriers, training ranges and stateside operations, AP reported. Two F/A-18 Super Hornets assigned to the USS Harry S. Truman were lost a week apart in the Red Sea — one after a bad landing; another slipped off the deck while being towed. In October, a fighter jet and a helicopter from the USS Nimitz crashed into the South China Sea within 30 minutes of each other. No aviators were killed.
In January, a U.S. Army UH-60 Black Hawk collided with a CRJ700 passenger jet near Washington’s Reagan National Airport, killing 67 people. Preliminary findings cited a broken helicopter altimeter, issues with night-vision goggles, and gaps in FAA oversight, according to AP.
Additional 2025 cases include an Air Force F-35A that crashed in Alaska after water-contaminated hydraulic fluid froze, a Navy EA-18G ditching in San Diego Bay, a KC-46A that lost its refueling boom off Virginia, a Navy F-35C crash near NAS Lemoore and a fatal AH-64 Apache crash near Fort Campbell.
What’s next
Warren has requested expanded mishap data from 2019–2025, including incidents classified as less severe and details on training and maintenance. The Navy’s own tally of Class A aviation mishaps rose from eight in 2024 to 14 in 2025. Investigations typically drive equipment, training or procedure changes; experts caution that media attention on catastrophic events can make a year appear worse than aggregate figures alone, the roundup noted.
