I think that the number of friends you lose to accidents will vary greatly depending on the type of flying and environment you spend most of our time in.

Yes, aviation isn't 100% safe. However people that fly freight in single pilot IFR, or cropdust, or do flight test are probably more likely to lose friends than those that fly for airlines or corporate departments.

I have hundreds of friends and aqcuaintances that fly for a living. Of them, only 3 have had serious accidents, and in my 11 years of flying, I've only lost one person in an aircraft crash, and that particular unfortunate event wasn't an accident.