FAA Orders More Training for MU-2

The Federal Aviation Administration will not ground Mitsubishi's MU-2 aircraft, which have been involved in 11 accidents in the past two years, including two fatal crashes at Centennial Airport in Arapahoe County, CO.

"We don't believe there is a safety issue with the airplane itself," said Les Dorr Jr., spokesman for the FAA, on Thursday. "It meets its original certification standards."

Instead, the agency recommended that pilots be required to undergo specialized training in flying the high-performance twin-engine turboprop plane and that mechanics get the necessary training in maintaining it.

"We continue to believe that if pilots are properly trained to fly this airplane, this airplane can be flown safely," said Dorr. "We want to make sure the pilot training is standardized and mandatory."

On Thursday the FAA released a plan of action as well as the final safety evaluation report of the Mitsubishi MU-2.

Mitsubishi officials said Thursday they were still reviewing the report but supported the FAA's recommendations.

"Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America supports the report's main finding that MU-2 aircraft operators need to be trained according to the manufacturer's flight manual procedures which have been in place for decades to maintain safety standards," said Scott Sobel, spokesman for Mitsubishi.

He said the company "continues to stand behind the MU-2 aircraft's solid safety record."

Last August, U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, a Littleton, CO Republican, called on the FAA to ground Mitsubishi MU models after the second crash at Centennial Airport.

In the first crash, on Dec. 10, 2004, pilot Paul Krysiak, 28, of Aurora, and co-pilot, James T. Presba, 25, of Lonetree, were killed when their MU-2B crashed shortly after takeoff. The plane belonged to Flight Line Inc. of Watkins, CO.

On Aug. 4, 2005, another Flight Line pilot, Sam Hunter, of West Valley City, Utah, died when his MU-2B-60 crashed into a ravine as it was approaching Centennial Airport from Salt Lake City.

The two crashes were among 11 in the past two years involving the Mitsubishi MU-2, which resulted in 12 deaths. The National Transportation Safety Board has yet to issue probable cause reports on the two crashes at Centennial.

Tancredo said in a statement Thursday that the recommendation of "additional training for pilots is helpful, but is not a sufficient solution given the MU-2's crash statistics. Grounding the aircraft remains the optimum solution, but this is a good first step for the FAA, who, like a recovering alcoholic, has taken the first step of admitting that there is a problem."

According to the FAA, there are 397 Mitsubishi MU-2s registered in the country.

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