Another MU2 down...

[WNRHD17]

Both are only dangerous if you get complacient and/or don't know WTF you are doing.

I feel bad anytime we lose a colleague in an accident, but quit making a pariah of the plane. There are reasons companies like Howell Enterprises specialize in aircraft-specific training for planes like the MU.

I'd like to hear you say the same thing after losing a brother, son, wife/husband, dad, in one....If my brother didn't know WTF he was doing he wouldn't have been flying that fvcking plane.

 

[WNRHD17]

"Last I heard, this was still a free country--so if you don't like flying the MU2, or don't want your husband, bf, brother, sister-you get the idea-flying it, then DON'T!" You ever try to talk someone that you love out of doing thier dream job of flying? You can't, its impossible. Paul was totally aware of the fact that I hated that plane, but I couldn't stop him from flying. He would have died inside. So are you saying that I deserve to be a widow since I couldn't talk him out of it????

"If you want to make it a safer airplane, proper training and mx are key, as stated before. Also, instructors and check airmen MUST weed out weak pilots, as this is not an a/c to learn to fly (IFR) in" For the record...my husband was a properly trained pilot and had flown countless times in IFR conditions. He had also walked away from emergency landings and engine failures in other types of a/c...he knew what he was up against. Like I said, the plane is a beast under less than ideal conditions. Send along a HIGH time MU2 pilot, that's been thru engine failures and landed safely, that STILL loves this plane and sings it praises. I'd really like to talk to him.

Right on, sista! Krysiaks UNITE!

 

[klingon67]

I am sorry to hear of another loss of life in the rice rocket. Someone once told me that the Japanese are trying to get back at us for WW2.The airplane is quite a handful with an engine out after takeoff especially with full tiptanks. I was curious if any of you who are familar with the circumstances of the accidents knew if the tips were full or not. I believe that looking into this one area is quite important. The company in which I flew them for would not allow us to depart even at sea level with the tips full and we never lost one.The only one we lost was when a pilot had a heart attack at FL250. I do believe that we can insist in better help from the feds in this area. waiting until they all are crashed is crazy logic in dealing with the problem. Once again Im sorry to hear about your losses, I can only imagine the way you must feel about this aircraft.

 

[Lead Sled]

Anyone who flies a plane with no ailerons needs a new medical.

Note to Johnson: It's not the lack of ailerons, it's the wing loading. You can't fly it like a Seneca, Duchess, or King Air - you've got to fly it like a jet. If you don't or if you slip back into your old "piston habits" when something happens, well that's when bad things happen to good people. It is absolutely no different than in any other high-performance turbine powered airplane. Period.

'Sled

 

[Tadpoles]

some people out there are defending this plane...okay, go ahead, but please stop defending it like you have some emotional attachment to it and that "most" of the mu-2 crashes were because of pilot error. We're all aviation people here...all kinds of planes crash...we get it, we know. These planes will obviously keep flying...our loved ones won't. Try our shoes on for a day....we dare you.

 

[TIGV]

I am sorry to hear of another loss of life in the rice rocket. Someone once told me that the Japanese are trying to get back at us for WW2.The airplane is quite a handful with an engine out after takeoff especially with full tiptanks. I was curious if any of you who are familar with the circumstances of the accidents knew if the tips were full or not. I believe that looking into this one area is quite important. The company in which I flew them for would not allow us to depart even at sea level with the tips full and we never lost one.The only one we lost was when a pilot had a heart attack at FL250. I do believe that we can insist in better help from the feds in this area. waiting until they all are crashed is crazy logic in dealing with the problem. Once again Im sorry to hear about your losses, I can only imagine the way you must feel about this aircraft.

U are an idiot, I don't want to see your face on this forum again....
400 lbs per side on the tips for takeoff, company and manufacturer policy because max landing fuel weight in the tips is 400 pounds a side, my buddy had already flown off over an hour of gas from Salt Lake, man these forums really bring out some #iing wankers. Why don't you folks without a f#$%^ clue about anything never mind this thread just shut the fu#$ up ?????????????????

 

[starchkr]

Just to shed some light on this last accident... we came in about 30 minutes after it happened and we were the only a/c allowed to use the ILS after it happened for many hours(although we found out afterwards that ATC was not supposed to let us). The weather while we were holding to get permission to go into APA was not too bad. At 12000 we had light ice, with intermittent ground contact while between layers. During the approach we broke out at 1400' AGL with great forward visibility, i would say 10 miles+. However, there was a report of rain at the time the mu-2 was shooting the approach.


Some reports i have heard about the airport say that sometimes during heavy rain the ILS Glideslope becomes INOP and can read false signals(Not saying this was the case at the time however). The a/c collided with trees first and continued a short distance before impacting the ground.


Some personal feelings about what happened...I was very disheartened to hear that it was another ACT a/c, less than 2 miles from where the last one went down in APA. When we were given permission to shoot the approach we were asked by ATC to pay close attention for wreckage or fires to help locate the wreckage...of course at 2 am, there was not much to see after we broke out but black ground, and there was NO fire. It is always nerve wracking being asked by ATC to shoot the same approach that a downed a/c just used so that they could see if it was working correctly(of course they stressed that if anything out of the ordinary happened that we should discontinue immediately).

God bless everyone...

 

[GravityHater]

most people who fly it are aware of the risks involved. At least I am. Last I heard, this was still a free country--so if you don't like flying the MU2, .............. then DON'T!

So true. Where is such activity going to lead?

Let's say we are the FAA and we are faced with the job of working towards zero accidents. We lline up all aircraft types flying today in order of accidents per thousand hours. Now we start lopping off the ones at the bottom - the ones that have the worst records. Where do we stop? Do we just take off the bottom 10%? 20%? How can we say when we are 'done'?
If we take off a few in 2005 when the overall accident rate is 0.0002, what's to say in 2010 the av community or public won't be 'outraged' by the accident rate of 0.0001, and demand 'something be done'? Then we are lopping off more from the bottom. Soon we are left with only ONE TYPE LEFT TO FLY (I exaggerate, but you see my point).

My feeling is, as ACT says, there is risk to flying. Its a free country (although burgeoning regulatory powers is gradually making that less and less true each day) and if you don't like a particular type.... make it your personal choice as a pilot or pax to NOT fly that type. But please don't try to force your personal decision down the entire rest of the country's throat!

 

[NoPax]

My deepest sympathies go to the family and friends of those lost, persuing their dream.

I googled 'MU-2 crash statistics' and found this:
http://www.findarticles.com/p/artic..._18/ai_n6265059
makes for an interesting read - the pros and cons of the MU-2.


Unfortunately, you'll have to read it, as I couldn't cut and paste it successfully.

 

[U of I Tweak]

From the article posted above:

Kennedy argued that the MU-2 has "marginal controllability on one engine at low airspeed and low altitude."

Doesn't that describe most twins?