Originally Posted by noprobs
It wasn't a spate in the USA - there were 2, I believe.
3 crashes in 2.5 years.
First delivery in Feb '94, grounded by Jul '97 - 3 crashes. Two blamed on pilot error and one stall/engine failure. So while I'm not certain if 'spate' has a defined minimum, but 3 in 2.5 years qualifies in my book.
I read the reports at the time (a decade+ ago), but don't recall specifics of any of the accidents - remember thinking it looked like standard CYA "pilot error" cause at the time...in other words, indeterminate or questionable causes with theoretical sequences of events...but hey, the SIB & AIB don't have to 'prove' anything, just put forward their best guess.
I heard rumours back then there were elevator issues during spin recovery as well, but that's all it was then...and now...rumours.