So far, 2009 is shaping up to be a costlier year for U.S. Army aviation accidents and incidents, according to an Aerospace DAILY analysis of data provided by the Army Combat Readiness/Safety Center (USACRC).

The average cost per accident or incident for this calendar year was about $220,178 as of July 28, the last date for which data were provided, compared to about $176,638 for all of 2008, the analysis shows.

“As the Army aviation fleet continues to transform to a more high-tech and lethal force, and [given] the inflationary growth in the cost of these aircraft and the resulting costs associated with mishaps, the cost of operating and fixing Army aircraft has increased,” said Lt. Col. David Fleckenstein, director of USACRC’s Air Task Force.

The maximum single-event cost for that time period was about $26.5 million. The average cost per an accident or incident for the more than 30,000 aviation mishaps over the past three decades was about $539,000, the analysis shows, with a maximum single-event cost of about $62.4 million. (See charts pp. 6-7.)

At the same time, there have been eight fatalities as of late July for 2009, compared to 10 for all of 2008, the analysis shows. Over the past three decades, army aviation mishaps have lead to 2,874 deaths.

Army aviation accidents or incidents have proved more survivable this year and in 2008, compared to the rest of the decade. The number of fatalities spiked 875%, from eight in 2000 to 78 in 2001, after the war on terror started, the analysis shows. After that, fatalities for the remainder of the decade hovered near or at the top of the rankings of per-year costs over the past three decades.

Previously, many of the most expensive and fatal years were during peacetime. Indeed, analysis earlier this decade by the Congressional Research Service showed that peacetime proved a bit more dangerous when it came to military aviation accidents. Now, however, there have been more fatal or costly accidents as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have worn on.

From Jan. 1, 2008 through July 28, 2009, the costliest location for Army aviation incidents was Iraq, with about $78.4 million, followed closely by Afghanistan with $75.6 million.

But as this year’s cost figures show, Afghanistan is quickly outstripping Iraq as the costliest region. Last year, the Army reported about $72.3 million due to aviation mishaps in Iraq and about $44 million in Afghanistan. But as of July 28 of this year, the service showed only about $6 million from mishaps in Iraq, while reporting about $31.7 million for Afghanistan.

Operations in both countries have been particularly burdensome on Army helicopters. But “in Afghanistan you have even more of a helicopter war,” said Richard Aboulafia, vice president of the Teal Group. “You have these great distances in remote areas using small units.”

Moreover, he said, the Army aviation units in Afghanistan are paying for the high-tempo work they did in Iraq. “The forces were stretched thin as Iraq played out,” Aboulafia said. “They didn’t have a reset break.”

Thus far for fiscal year 2009, the total costs of the accidents and incidents in all countries totaled about $87.1 million, compared to $136.5 million for all of fiscal 2008, the analysis shows. The total over the past three decades has been about $16.4 billion.

The worst year over the past three decades for Army aviation accident and incident costs was fiscal 2005, for which the service reported about $407.9 million. For each of fiscal years 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007 and 2004 — in order of descending cost — the Army reported between $282.2 million and $337.3 million.

Last year’s tally is the ninth highest in the past three decades, according to the analysis. The total as of July 28 for 2009 already places it among the top 20 for total year tallies, the analysis shows. By comparison, the least amount the Army reported, besides the truncated 2008 amount, is $18.9 million in 1974 and then $19.8 million in 1973.

Photo: Boeing