Frequent landing accidents were a wider carrier-aviation problem, especially in the 1950s and 1960s. The Scimitar's losses sit within a history that reaches back to the biplane and monoplane debates of the 1920s and 1930s. Some navies lost dozens of carrier aircraft in a single year as they learned to operate faster and heavier types at sea. They replaced lost aircraft, investigated accidents, and corrected identifiable faults. Some accidents, however, offered no single defect or mistake to blame.
Notable Point · 17:09-18:35
The dangerous peak of 1950s and 1960s carrier aviation
The Scimitar's losses belong to an era when carrier navies could lose dozens of aircraft in a year while learning to operate fast, heavy jets at sea.