People forget how far aviation safety has come since these old warbirds were new.

Back in the day, mishaps and crashes during operational and training missions were commonplace for both mechanical reasons and human error. Because it was wartime, a lot of them were just seen as a price we had to pay to win the war. These things weren't built for sightseeing trips.

Now add on 75 years--you have a lot of wear and tear, most parts have to be made from scratch, and Uncle Sam isn't funding the flights any more. Honestly I'm surprised there aren't even more mishaps.