Any pilots out there want to weigh in on this?
Another twin engine widow maker. My flight instructor hated piston-engine twins, saying you had twice the risk of an engine failure, and the only advantage it gave you was the opportunity to crash a little closer to the airport.
I think the ideal aircraft from a safety standpoint would be a STOL Cessna Caravan with a single turboprop, fixed gear, and a chute recovery system.
Back in 2001, there was a plane crash in the Woodlands, Texas. A witness saw the plane in a flat spin before crash. Guess what type? Mitsubishi MU-2B-40, N16CG. It crashed in the woods a few miles from my house. The cause, engine failure. “Aircraft was climbing through 11.000 ft after departure from Conroe, TX when it lost control & crashed in woods near The Woodlands, TX after engine failure, reg canx 11.01.02.”
My father spent over a decade flying privately for business. Mitsu’s are pretty common and as a kid my Dad used to tell me stories about how dangerous they were. I think, if memory serves me, he mentioned something about the planes being a handful and extremely dangerous in engine out scenario’s.
*sigh*—We lose too many doctors this way. And not nearly enough lawyers.
Over the years I’ve read where the MU-2B-25 has been involved in a lot of accidents. I for one will never fly in one. They’re death traps.
The MU-2 is not a very forgiving airplane... let alone when it’s flying on one engine.