I had always been led to believe that winch launching was about twice as risky as aero-tow and there were reports in the 1980s and 1990s that I think supported this. The recent UK reported winch accident rate is pretty close to double the US aero-tow accident rate, so that gives general support to this premise.

While I am prepared to believe that the Germans are better at it than the rest of the world, an accident rate nearly 15 times lower just doesn't smell right! Maybe someone misplaced a decimal point - it wouldn't be the first time!

Mike