OK, I really didn't want to wade into this again as it has been done to death, but when I read statements like the one above by Soup Nazi where THEIR OPINION is presented as unarguable FACT, it's difficult to stay silent...
The following is taken directly from the Piper website, from a discussion on the safety records of various types of aircraft:
"We reviewed the NTSB’s Aviation Accident Database, specifically in the 10 year period between 1998 and 2007. We also reviewed other reports that attempted to summarize accident trends.
What we found confirmed many widely held beliefs, but also included a few surprises.
It was interesting to compare the safety of single and multi-engine turboprop aircraft. Their overall, engine related, and fatal accident rates were very similar. Their fatal engine related accident rates were very low. However, the single engine turboprop aircraft had one-third of the engine related fatal accident rate compared with multi-engine turboprops.Whether that difference can be attributed to the lower stall speeds and thus lower impact speeds of single engine aircraft or attributed to the reduced pilot workload following an engine shutdown is unknown, but the effect on fatal accidents was clear."
I have edited for brevity but there is more there for those interested enough to look, including a chart and so on.
If someone can provide a link to other studies which have come to different conclusions (thus backing up their opinion) please do so.
In the meantime I'll keep flying the PC-12, and will feel quite safe doing so.
And for the guys at YMEN I sincerely hope you do keep the contract. For mine I think it would be disgraceful for it to go elsewhere, but if it does good luck to you all in finding other work.
Last edited by rcoight; 24th Jul 2009 at 00:06.
Reason: spelling