The entire US military has witnessed a 48-percent hike in aviation crashes in 2014 and 2015 compared with the two previous years, a new investigation based on press reports reveals.
Pointing to recent crashes of two F/A-18 Hornet jetfighters during training exercises that left one Marine pilot dead, a Fox News TV report stated on Saturday that such accidents are becoming more frequent amid growing concerns that “insufficient training and an aging fleet hobble by a shortage of spare parts” are contributing factors.
“They are going up partly because they are not getting the training they should get. They’re going up because maintenance is harder and harder to accomplish. They are going up because the airplanes are getting older and older,” said Republican Congressman from Texas Mac Thornberry, who chairs the House Armed Services Committee, in an interview with Fox News.
Thornberry blames President Barack Obama for the emerging crisis saying that he…