This was an exceptionally bad year for Airventure. I read that there hadn't been any fatal accidents on the field for 15 years or something.
Hmmm... I had also heard that claim of no fatal accidents on field, but to me this is a bit of a play on words and it seems a convenient way of deflecting the real statistics and sanitising the reputation of the fly-in.
In the strictest sense this claim might be true, but given the nature of how aircraft approach and depart airports, a stall/spin accident like the fatal one in 2001 (posted in the article above) that occurred 1/2 mile from the airport while the aircraft was on short final to land happened as a direct result of an aircraft approaching OSH to land for Air Venture.
IMO, that 2001 fatal accident should be counted as a fatal accident in AirVenture's history, regardless of the fact that the wreckage fell to the ground just outside the airport's fence line.
If you consider all of the fatal accidents related to OSH without regards to where the wreckage landed across the US, this year wasn't any different than the last few, with the exception of that absolutely avoidable and tragic warbird taxi accident this year.
Incidentally, Aero-news reported that the person killed in the experimental that was run over by the warbird was
the president of the Ottawa chapter of EAA.