Originally Posted by
Wally Bird
The Electra suffered just two crashes due to the "whirl mode" design flaw.
More than two 727s were lost in its first couple of years because the crews were not able to control the high sink rate during approach. Early 707s also had a higher than expected accident rate for similar reasons - crew unfamiliarity.
Structural airframe breakups have always had a fascination for the lay press and public, despite them being a tiny fraction of aircraft accidents, which in turn are a tiny fraction of flights operated, no more so than the Comet accidents of the early 1950s. In fact the early Comets also had accidents due to crew unfamiliarity - Canadian Pacific lost their first on its delivery flight.