Aircraft Safety Records

Greetings!
Were statistics ever kept for overall safety records for the aircraft fielded by each belligerent? I know that the Camel is famous for killing its riders, and that the Albatros and Fokker Triplanes and D-VIIIs had unpleasant wing problems, but overall which country fielded the safest aircraft to fly. I would prefer to base this on pilots killed/injured rather than just crashes, but any statistics are better than no statistics.

Joe ???

[EdStevens]

I'm afraid that such statistics could be misleading, since the number of crashes had as much to do with training methods as it did with the aircraft being used. The French training of novice pilots was much safer than the early British methods, for instance, at least until the development of the Gosport system. In addition, safety was also affected by the time during the war: in times of severe losses, pilot training was accelerated to dangerous levels; in calmer times accidents would be reduced as more time was spent acclimatizing trainee pilots before moving them into the next stage of their development. You would also want to consider the definition of "crash." Wiping out a landing gear or doing a ground loop was considered pretty standard stuff and hardly worth any fuss during training. Fatal crashes were more likely to occur following the solo flight, and could also affect the type of aircraft involved.