The Navy and Marine Corps are proud to have gone a full year without a fatal aircraft crash

The Navy and Marine Corps are pleased to announce that, for the first time in nearly a century of United States naval aviation, the services have collectively managed to not lose any pilots in the last year.

Navy and Marine Corps aviators closed out fiscal year 2020 without a single fatality resulting from aviation mishaps, the service announced on Monday.

“After 98 years of recorded aviation history, this unprecedented milestone serves as testimony to the Naval Aviation Enterprise’s tireless commitment toward fostering a safety culture of excellence,” Naval Safety Center chief Rear Adm. F.R. “Lucky” Luchtman said in a statement.

While the reduction in mishaps accompanied a 10 percent reduction in flying hours due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the Navy noted that both services continued to perform “approximately” 90 percent of their missions with the same standard flight risks.

“It’s a remarkable achievement that’s really the result of years of training, proficiency and adopting a good safety culture,” said Capt. Scott Kramarik, NAVSAFECEN director of aviation safety programs, said in a statement. “Without that, there’s no way we could’ve gotten here.”