A new Military Times investigation finds military aviation accidents spiked by close to 40 percent in the past five years.
The investigation found 133 service members were killed in aircraft accidents from 2013 to 2017. It said the increase is connected to the Congressional budget cuts back in 2013, sequestration and the statistics have gotten worse from continuous deployments, less military maintenance personnel and a drop in pilot training hours.
In the past few weeks alone, 16 service members were killed in military aviation crashes.
Central Texas Congressman John Carter said the recent legislation is helping the military get back on track.
He said, “For far too long, our men and women in the military have been asked to do more with less, and these recent accidents are an example of why it’s so crucial to ensure that our military has the money it needs. The recent funding legislation passed by Congress ended sequestration and puts us back on a path to properly fund the Armed Forces, so we can make sure that our men and women in uniform have the resources to be successful and safe on and off the battlefield."