European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - December 13, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday december 13, 1986 the stars and stripes Page 9 by 86 safest yet for military pilots /mprovemeni1 credited to new aircraft by Norman Blackf Mil tiry writer Washington despite an increase in major accidents within the Navy the nation s military serv ice set an aviation safely record in fiscal 1986. The Pentagon said thursday. The Pentagon attributed the record to the introduction of new planes and helicopters which have proved to be safer and More maintainable than their predecessors despite flying in More realistic and demanding training environments than Ever  the army Navy air Force and Marine corps experienced 162 so called class a accidents during the 12months ending sept. 30, Down from 179 in fiscal 1985 and 212 in fiscal 1982, the Pentagon added. A class a Accident is defined As one that results in either & fatality or property damage to a plane or Heli copter exceeding $500,000. The previous safely record was set in fiscal 1984,when the four services combined experienced 170 major accidents. The four services Chart their flying safety records on the basis of class a accidents per 100,000 hours of operation. Overall with the four services flying 7.27 million hours in 1986, the 162 aircraft crashes produced an Accident rate of 2.23 incidents per 100,000 flight hours that compares to the previous Best of 2.42 incidents per 100,000 night hours set in 1984. The one Blip in the downward trend involved the Navy which historically has led the Way along with the Marine corps in aircraft incidents because of the number of operations conducted at sea. In fiscal 1986, the Navy experienced 58 class a accidents for an Accident rate of 3.39 per 100,000 Light hours. That compares to 47 class a accidents and a rate of 2.76 per 100,000 flight hours in fiscal 1985, when the Navy set its individual safety re Cord. The Navy s 1986 total of 58 major accidents was the highest for that service since fiscal 1982, when 70class a accidents and an Overall Rale of 4.3 incidents per 100,000 flight hours were reported. The current aggregate performance reflects a 24 percent reduction in major accidents Over 1982." Dod report the Navy declined thursday to offer any explanation for the jump in class a accidents. The Navy air Force and marines also said they did not have Avail Able As Yel a breakdown of the Accident rates by individual Type of aircraft although it reported a decline in class a accidents the Marine corps continued to Lead he services in1986 in its Overall Accident rate. The marines reported 1 8 class a accidents in 19s6 for an Overall Rale of 4. 8 per 100,000 flying hours. That compares to 25 major accidents in 1985 and a rate of 5.71 per 100,000 flying hours. Tie army despite a string of helicopter accidents last summer posted the greatest improvement in its earns her wings no lev Spears uni of the dutch air Force poses with her Pilot War in front of a Jet Flag Beer. Seem to  receive her wings As reportedly the first woman fighter Pilot in nato during � ceremony saturday Antonio Texas. The dutch flyer mined Ash fab in Wichita fulls Texas. I at sane Pard Alan held in alleged knife attacks Frankfurt is a 23-year-old German remained under psychiatric Owr Vawn fonday  he was arrested on suspicion of attacking five people with a knife a police spokesman said. Three germans and a 17-year-Oid turkish youth were injured in the attacks the spokesman said. Their ast occurred at 6 15 . Dec. 6. Three other Altos stand two threat occurred Between 3 is and 5 30 . Sunday he said. A 28-year-old american was the last to be approach was waiting his Doberman pins her two blocks from the Gibbs housing area when the Man came at him with a knife. "1 put the dog on him he said. The Man stabbed the dog and fled. Sharpe said two passers by helped him Chase and catch the attacker and hold him until police arrived. The youth and the three germans have been release from the Hospital the police spokesman said. Sharpe who was Laid off from a Job in the Frankfurt military Community about a month ago said his dog is recovering. The suspect could be charged within the next few weeks the spokesman said. Safety record. Class a accidents within the army dropped from 45 in fiscal 1985 to 33 in fiscal 1986,producing a rate of 1.98 per 100,000 flight hours Corn pared to 2.94 incidents per 100,000 flight hours in 1985. A breakout of the army s record by specific aircraft shows the greatest number of accidents involved the service s aging Fleet of Vietnam Era Chi Huey Heli copters. There were 13 class a accidents involve Inch is in 1986, More than double the number for any other Type of army aircraft. The chs Are slowly being replaced by the Newuh-60 Blackhawk helicopter. Three Blackhawk were involved in class a accidents in 1986. The air Force also posted a significant decline in accidents reporting s3 class a incidents in 1986 andean Overall rate of 1.53 per 100,000 flying hours. That compares to 62 class a accidents in 1985 and a rate of 1,78 per 100,000 night hours. The current aggregate performance reflects a 24percent reduction in major accidents Over 1982 while Hying hours increased by 5.8 percent the Pentagon noted. In 1960, Dod had 1,481 major accidents resulting in a rate of 12.4 accidents per 100,000 flight  the Pentagon said it is pursuing additional Initia Tives to lower the Accident rate even further. Those include a program to install flight data re corders on Alt new aircraft Simitar to the Black boxes carried aboard commercial airliners to enable investigators to better determine causes of accidents the Pentagon said. A second initiative Calls for the installation of ground proximity warning devices on tactical aircraft to provide pilots an extra warning that they Are Jeanng the ground. Dod to conduct Survey on attitudes of single gis Washington thousands of single service members in the United slates and overseas will soon have the Chance to Tell Pentagon officials How they feel about the Quality of life in the military. Pentagon officials said wednesday. The defense housing directorate is sponsoring Survey to determine unaccompanied service members altitudes on living conditions and support services. Well be concentrating mainly on housing questions but Well also include questions on support serv ices such As the availability of local transportation and the Quality of commissaries and exchanges a Directo rate official said. A lot of emphasis has been placed on upgrading family housing and family programs Over the past few years she said. Now we d like to see what the prob Lem areas Are for single  More than 45,000 surveys will be mailed out at ran Dom to unaccompanied personnel from each of the services she said. About 65 percent will to to overseas installations in Germany Italy Japan South Korea Spain and the untied kingdom the rest will go to stateside installations. A few of the surveys have already gone out utmost of them won t be mailed until shortly after Christmas she said. The mailing will continue until the end of  she said results of the Survey should be available by september. Upper Heyford airman gets presidential letter Washington an airman Fiona Raf upper Heyford England was among 27 air Force personnel who received commendation letters from president Reagan for their contributions toward Cost ravings air Force officials said thursday. Master sgt. Gene o. Palmer was honoured for his efforts toward elimination of fraud waste and abuse and better use of staff or Materiel  icon Palm by tin Bun ind a tips kill m t Tram not it min