You need to discount two of McCain’s plane losses. One was during the Forrestal fire when a Zuni rocket on a Phantom accidentally went of and hit his Skyhawk. The other was when his Skyhawk got hit by a SAM. A good number of good pilots got shot down by SAM’s.
And a good number of PT Boat skippers did not get run over by a Jap warship! He skated on his family connections as did McCain.