Cites Four Fatal Accidents In A Year

It's no secret that the Mitsubishi MU-2 has issues. The aircraft, one of the most popular light commercial twin turboprops flying today, has been criticized as hard to fly -- especially in single-engine operations. Now, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America recommends specialized simulator training for MU-2 pilots.

Mitsubishi is "deeply concerned, and we're in the process of trying to get the word out," according to Ralph Sorrells, deputy GM for Mitsubishi's aircraft product support division, who spoke with reporters from the Denver Post. Last year, that division was ranked top in the world in a product support survey among pilots, line captains, maintenance chiefs and others.

But it's not the support that has Mitsubishi worried. It's the pilot training. To that end, Mitsubishi is now sponsoring seminars around the country.

MU-2 pilots don't need a type rating. But even Mitsubishi says it does require special training. The company wants the FAA to require -- or at least endorse -- such training.

Since Mitsubishi stopped making MU-2s in the 1980s, about 420 are still flying. Since 1968, the NTSB reports there have been 181 MU-2 accidents -- 74 of them involving fatalities. In all, at least 238 people have died in MU-2 mishaps.

The MU-2 has a reputation as a uniquely challenging aircraft, a reputation acknowledged throughout the industry.

That's a reputation MU-2s will bear "for the rest of their life," according Todd McCredie, treasurer of the Piper-McCredie Insurance Agency in Flint, MI. He told the Post, "Safety on this airplane is strictly in the training."

The MU-2s high accident rate prompted the FAA to conduct two reviews of the aircraft in the 1980s. In 1981, according to Howell Enterprises, a company that specializes in the MU-2, the FAA conducted a not-so-very-publicized investigation into the handling characteristics of the aircraft on approach. There had been reports that the aircraft could start sinking fast, a trend that was difficult to arrest. That investigation found, according to Howell, "just the opposite. According to the investigation, FAA pilots found that with the MU-2 stabilized on a normal glidescope they could raise the nose without adding power and fly level until the stall warning activated, without the airplane going into a behind-the-power-curve sink."

The second investigation, in 1984, was a Special Certification Review conducted at the request of the NTSB. Howell reports:

"The SCR entailed the engines, fuel system, engine-out handling, flight control system, handling qualities in IFR conditions and flight into icing. After nearly 70 hours of test-flying, much of it in icing, conditions, the FAA found that the MU-2 does comply with the regulations. Nothing was found in flight testing, accident analysis or examination of systems and structure that was outside the rules or would lead to accidents."

The SCR found that the MU-2 could be flown by a single pilot in IFR conditions -- the workload wasn't too crushing. At that time, the FAA looked at the possibility of a special type rating for the aircraft, but eventually decided that wasn't necessary.

E-I-C Note: There isn't a darned thing wrong with the "Rice Rocket" that training and type-specific insight can't fix. This is an unusual bird... fly it like an Apache and it will bite you -- hard. Get to know it... understand it's unique pitch profile, rolling modes, asymmetric thrust/directional issues, and the way that the flaps work with the wing (dump them too soon into an engine failure and you've just lost an amazing amount of lift) on this airplane, and it'll get you home so long as one is turning (very jet-like). With one turning and the situation under control, the MU-2 is a really solid flyer. But... it IS different. Fly it like the average piston-twin and you're going to have your hands full...

It doesn't take long to get to know the beast... but some GOOD instruction with a knowledgeable instructor can get you prepared to operate one of the best values on the used twin turbo-prop market in a surprisingly short period of time.

FMI: www.mu2b.com