Story ID: 
Pilots concerned about MU-2 NPRM
By: Gordon Gilbert
Caption: Although the FAA allowed only 30 days for comments on the proposed Special FAR mandating Mitsubishi MU-2 pilot training, 72 comments were submitted to the 
Word Count: 150
Although the FAA allowed only 30 days for comments on the proposed Special FAR mandating Mitsubishi MU-2 pilot training, 72 comments were submitted to the docket. The SFAR will require all MU-2 pilots to obtain initial/transition, requalification, recurrent and/or differences training. Comments included questions about why airplanes with accident rates worse than the MU-2 don’t have training SFARs and concerns about resources available at training centers to meet the needs of MU-2 pilots. A surprising number of commenters agreed that more stringent training requirements are needed for the MU-2, but others also noted that no amount of training can instill good judgment in MU-2 pilots. The requirement that MU-2s cannot be flown without a working autopilot generated many comments asking how an MU-2 could be flown to an autopilot repair shop if the system was broken or why a second pilot couldn’t substitute for a broken autopilot.