Army aviation was having a bad few years—even before the Black Hawk helicopter plane crash in Washington DC

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"... Army aviation saw 17 class-A mishaps—that is, accidents that killed someone or caused more than $2.5 million in damage—during fiscal 2024, which ran from October 2023 through September. Thirteen of them have taken place since last January. ...

The Army’s data shows a different story: a rise in mishaps over the past five years, with a small dip in 2022, then spikes in 2023 and 2024. ...

According to the Army Combat Readiness Center’s annual assessment, those 15 accidents were the most the service has seen since 2007. And the rate of 1.9 mishaps per 100,000 flight hours was nearly four times the service’s previous worst year on record, 2022. ...

Still, the service has self-reported that “an ineffective safety culture was one of the most cited causes of Army on-duty mishaps” in reports during that time period. 

Army data from 2023-24 shows that 39 “unsafe acts” led to class-A mishaps during that time: 24 skill errors, 12 judgment errors, and three intentional deviations from protocol. The mishaps include multiple instances in which a procedure or checklist wasn’t followed or an action was rushed or delayed, and one instance each of ignoring a warning and extreme lack of discipline, the data shows. ..."

Army aviation was having a bad few years—even before Wednesday’s crash - Defense One "The service’s fiscal 2024 mishap rate was the highest since 2007."