MU-2B accident in New York

[A300Capt]

Not to be argumentative, but I'd happily make the case that a high performance piston twin is a higher workload than most turboprops since you don't have to deal with mixtures, props, cowl flaps, managing CHT's etc when you're burning jet A. You also have more power on hand to escape conditions like icing or manage a single engine scenario. Things may happen slightly faster in the turbine world, but that's just a matter of proficiency and staying ahead of the plane and situation. If we're going to say that a King Air shouldn't be operated single pilot then I'd argue the same should hold true for a Baron since it's equally capable of getting the pilot into trouble.

Yep…all good points! I really can’t argue with what you say.

One could also argue, and as you pointed out, that things do happen faster ( you say slightly and I’ll say significantly) in a turboprop vs a piston prop. If a single ops pilot is already overloaded in an aircraft he’s not 100% comfortable or competent in, speeding things up doesn’t help and folks tend to lock up or flail. Time gets compressed and faster, yet methodical and sensical thinking is required to stay ahead of the aircraft/situation. Basically, have a plan beforehand on a few “what ifs”. Also, while a turboprop does have significantly more power vs a piston twin, if you can’t anticipate, control or harness all that power then you can quickly get behind the aircraft in IMC. I can imagine getting behind an MU2 is probably a recipe for disaster. As an example, adding a fistful of power on a single engine GA in a turboprop (especially IMC and/or nighttime) can be very disorienting and produce a surprisingly rapid roll rate into the dead engine if not prepared or being situationally overloaded. I saw it many times in a jet sim at the airline level. It can be humbling.

Anyway, my personal feeling is this Dr/owner was not reckless and may have been very cautious and check all the boxes…on paper (I’d like to see his training record). Was he a “barely passed but has a big checkbook” type of student or was he an “ Ace of the base” hot shot? Possibly his only mistake was buying and flying a high performance aircraft, in this case one with a known history of spanking pilots hard if not operated carefully between the lines, into IMC conditions which he appeared to be having trouble getting all his ducks in a row. Hopefully we’ll get answers as to what lead up to the accident so we can prevent the next one. Was it an engine failure on the GA or some other distracting mechanical issue? Too much dependence or holes in his knowledge about the avionics/autopilot ops during high workloads? Possible spatial disorientation due to flying a hot little rice rocket single pilot during a high workload IMC environment? Who knows?

I can tell you with all my turboprop/ jet time and when I was current and at the peak of my game….that MU2 probably, flown single pilot, would’ve most likely eaten my lunch too given the amount of time he had in it and the pressure/stressful conditions he was operating in at the time. Always nice to have a second pair of eyes and hands in the other seat to take some of the workload gets high.

 

[milleR]

Yep…all good points! I really can’t argue with what you say.

One could also argue, and as you pointed out, that things do happen faster ( you say slightly and I’ll say significantly) in a turboprop vs a piston prop. If a single ops pilot is already overloaded in an aircraft he’s not 100% comfortable or competent in, speeding things up doesn’t help and folks tend to lock up or flail. Time gets compressed and faster, yet methodical and sensical thinking is required to stay ahead of the aircraft/situation. Basically, have a plan beforehand on a few “what ifs”. Also, while a turboprop does have significantly more power vs a piston twin, if you can’t anticipate, control or harness all that power then you can quickly get behind the aircraft in IMC. I can imagine getting behind an MU2 is probably a recipe for disaster. As an example, adding a fistful of power on a single engine GA in a turboprop (especially IMC and/or nighttime) can be very disorienting and produce a surprisingly rapid roll rate into the dead engine if not prepared or being situationally overloaded. I saw it many times in a jet sim at the airline level. It can be humbling.

Anyway, my personal feeling is this Dr/owner was not reckless and may have been very cautious and check all the boxes…on paper (I’d like to see his training record). Was he a “barely passed but has a big checkbook” type of student or was he an “ Ace of the base” hot shot? Possibly his only mistake was buying and flying a high performance aircraft, in this case one with a known history of spanking pilots hard if not operated carefully between the lines, into IMC conditions which he appeared to be having trouble getting all his ducks in a row. Hopefully we’ll get answers as to what lead up to the accident so we can prevent the next one. Was it an engine failure on the GA or some other distracting mechanical issue? Too much dependence or holes in his knowledge about the avionics/autopilot ops during high workloads? Possible spatial disorientation due to flying a hot little rice rocket single pilot during a high workload IMC environment? Who knows?

I can tell you with all my turboprop/ jet time and when I was current and at the peak of my game….that MU2 probably, flown single pilot, would’ve most likely eaten my lunch too given the amount of time he had in it and the pressure/stressful conditions he was operating in at the time. Always nice to have a second pair of eyes and hands in the other seat to take some of the workload gets high.

I certainly don't disagree. And I'll acknowledge that I come to the conversation with a strong bias; I've owned and operated my MU-2, single pilot, for ten years now. So while I don't agree with statements (not from you) that turboprops "can't" or "shouldn't" be flown single pilot, I will wholeheartedly agree that a second qualified pilot in the cockpit is -almost- always a benefit. Much like a high performance car, a turboprop- especially a Garrett powered one- will both go faster but also slow down a lot faster than a piston. That level of performance needs to be understood and planned for, since what can be a massive advantage can also be very dangerous when the pilot falls behind the curve.

Concerning this particular accident, I really can't form an opinion because I don't know what the Dr.'s past experience was.

What I do know is that the MU-2 is an extremely capable airframe but is also somewhat demanding and takes a couple hundred hours to really understand and operate to it's full capacity safely and competently.

I know that this particular plane was very well equipped with a modern Garmin panel, but I don't know what the Dr.'s experience or familiarity with Garmin products was.

I know that it was a pretty low IFR day with probable icing in the area. Given those conditions, I think a high level of proficiency in both instrument conditions as well as in that particular airframe would be requisite to operate safely.

The mits will very happily fly 200+KIAS to the marker and get established on a stabilized GS down to minimums in moderate icing conditions and land safely. But that's not something I'd attempt without a lot of experience in the plane.