Requirements Fall Short Of Type Rating
ANN has always found the controversy over the airworthiness of the MU-2 an argument of political hype over reality. Much maligned over a number of highly visible accidents (often hyped by some politicos with an aviation-ignorant agenda), the truth of the matter is that the MU-2 is a hell of an airplane... and PROPERLY trained and flown, this is a serious working airplane.
To separate the "Bravo Sierra" from the reality of the matter, ANN and Aero-TV interviewed and flew with MU-2 expert Pat Cannon to detail the TRUE nature of this airplane and the community that has grown around it... especially in light of the recent SFAR actions.
After receiving numerous comments from both private and commercial operators of the Mitsubishi MU-2 turboprop -- as well as owner representatives, and the plane's manufacturer -- the FAA has gone forward with its call for a Special Federal Aviation Regulation (SFAR) calling for new pilot training, experience, and operating requirements for the speedy aircraft.
The final rule mandates a comprehensive standardized pilot training program for the MU-2. The regulation requires use of a standardized cockpit checklist and the latest revision of the Airplane Flight Manual. MU-2 operators also must have a working autopilot onboard except in certain limited circumstances. Owners and operators must comply with the SFAR within a year.
The FAA's requirements follow an increased accident and incident rate in the MU-b over the past four years, and are based on a safety evaluation of the MU-2 conducted by the agency since July 2005. This SFAR mandates additional training, experience, and operating requirements to improve the level of operational safety for the MU-2.
"The FAA studies enormous amounts of data looking for trends," said FAA Associate Administrator for Aviation Safety Nick Sabatini. "When we saw the rising accident rate for the MU-2, we decided to take appropriate actions to bring the plane up to an acceptable level of safety."
In its original Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the FAA proposed new requirements for ground and flight training that would apply to all persons who manipulate the controls or act as pilot-in-command (PIC) of the MU-2. The proposed SFAR also would apply to those persons who provide pilot training for the Mitsubishi MU-2.
Operational requirements -- including a requirement for a functioning autopilot for single pilot instrument flight rules (IFR) and night visual flight rules (VFR) operations, a requirement to obtain and carry a copy of the latest available revision of the airplane flight manual, and a requirement to use a new pilot checklist were part of the proposal -- where included in the NPRM, building on the current MU-2 requirements as spelled out in 14 CFR parts 61, 91, and 135.
The FAA proposed that all training conducted in the Mitsubishi MU-2 be done using the standardized Mitsubishi Heavy Industries training program and a checklist accepted by the FAA's MU-2 FSB. The requirements called for by the FAA fall short of a type-rating standard, which some have called for the MU-2 to have due to its unique operational characteristics compared to other multi-engine turboprops.
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