Could this drop be attributed to technolgy and/or training that was unavailable before.
Pilot error rate ‘significantly declined’ Accident rate remains stable, but pilots’ mistakes dropped 40 percent
Pilot error is probably much less of a factor in mishaps involving U.S. airliners now than it was in the early 1980s, a new study suggests.
The study, by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, discovered that the number of U.S. airline accidents due to pilot error "significantly declined" between 1983 and 2002.
Although the overall rate of U.S. airline accidents remained stable throughout the period, the proportion of mishaps involving pilot error decreased 40 percent, they found.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22452005/