What is the FAA definition of a WWII era bomber? Did all of these WWII era accident aircraft ( fighters, bombers, trainers) include air racing, movie stunts, as a mentioned earlier firefighting, crop dusting, mosquito abatement activities?
I believe the statistical accident evidence for or against continuing the LHFE flights needs to be weighed by accident statistics relevant to LHFE flights only. LHFE flight hours are accurately recorded which would make accident statistics in the LHFE arena relative to flight hours and passenger loads easy to quantify. That risk needs to be calculated to craft a valid, transparent waiver.
To lump in all FAA data on WWII era aircraft ( whatever that term really means to the FAA) involved in accidents since 1982 with the LHFE flights is not fair to those who have complied with all of the LHFE regs, and up till the Collings crash, had a 100% safety record. Plus, we don’t know what the cause of the Collings crash was. That crash still may prove to be caused by something other than a part or maintenance failure.
Waivers are good. Waivers are necessary. Transparency regarding safety risks is the right way of doing business in LHFE flights. We already have that. And overall, it has worked very well.