Why were 1959 and 1962 especially bad years for one carrier's aircraft crashes?
Short answerA tentative explanation is that the ship may have been working up air groups, although operating area or chance could also account for the pattern.
NotesA memory-based hypothesis links the accidents to air-group workups rather than a settled finding. Working up new air groups is often a carrier's most accident-prone period, but location and simple statistical variation would need investigation before assigning a firm cause.