(December 2011) Three and a half years ago I wrote about the Mitsubishi MU-2 controversy (“Dangerous Airplanes or Dangerous Pilots?” — May 2008). For much of its life, the MU-2 had the unenviable status of having one of the worst turboprop accident rates and fatal accident rates. People wrote articles questioning the sanity of anyone who would fly such a dangerous airplane, and a congressman even introduced legislation that would require the airplane to be recalled, an option that was seriously considered by the FAA. However, there was another side to this story. First, there were several other turboprops that had equally bad or even slightly worse accident rates, and yet no one was writing nasty articles about them or saying they should be recalled. Even more curious, the MU-2 was only dangerous in the United States. In Europe it had an excellent safety record, and even here in the United States there were many people who loved the MU-2 and had operated it safely for many years.
The only difference between operating an MU-2 in Europe and flying one in the United States was that European countries required a type rating to fly the MU-2.
