[TChris]

Any crash caused by those factors cannot count as black marks against the safety of an aircraft model.

True, but I would expect those issues to be more-or-less equal among different models and manufacturers. A country with crappy aircraft maintenance won't keep their A320s pristine while ignoring their 737s.

I think the fatality rate is still a meaningful indicator because other variables would tend to balance out across the spectrum.

[Jeff Chandler]

A country with crappy aircraft maintenance won't keep their A320s pristine while ignoring their 737s

But a carrier would.

[Jeff Chandler]

I think the fatality rate is still a meaningful indicator because other variables would tend to balance out across the spectrum.

That's pure speculation. With so few deaths per so many miles for both manufacturers, anything other than death rate per miles flown caused by design flaw (whose recommended fix wasn't ignored) is not usable data.

And that goes both ways. If stats make Boeing look bad, those stats better be meaningful, not a bunch of incidents thrown together like gumbo.