The most dangerous times for navy and air force aviation was 1942 through 1955. Wartime training accidents were horrendous, some 15K aircrew deaths.
Transition from props to jets got many seasoned veterans in the 1950s. We would lose one or two a day at Luke when I was a kid there. Funerals and memorial services were daily occurrences.
“Transition from props to jets got many seasoned veterans in the 1950s.”
Agreed, the US Navy had already lost early jet aircraft and aircrew during their initial workups and training conducted on their converted angle deck CATOBAR carriers. The F-35c aircraft do not have to recreate and relearn all of the lessons that the US Navy endured in establishing its unequaled Naval Aviation capabilities. However, the US Naval aviation effort as demonstrated in this accident, will suffer losses and setbacks that they did not envision.
US Navy Jet transition - 1954
The US Navy and Marines lost 776 aircraft and 535 aircrew in this single year. These were not combat loses but mishaps mainly due to the jet transition as you stated.US Navy Cold War 1949 - 1989
The losses of US Naval aviation, both Navy and Marines during this time period is surprising when looking back from the year 2021. The total loses of aircraft to include helicopters, trainers, and land based patrol planes, in addition to carrier based jets - came to just under 12,000 aircraft and 8,500 aircrew over 40 years, the price the US was willing to pay to dominate the USSR at sea.
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