If you factor out those Kingair takeoff accidents. Then how do the numbers look for hours flown compared to a PC-12 or other turbine single accidents. Accidents directly caused by engine failure, Not just core engine failure but power loss in flight due to any problem that causes an accident?.

The issue with the Kingair takeoff crashes is that it is probably not a engine failure if auto feather did not occur. Leading to the power lever roll back suspicion. But it’s impossible to prove due to the terrible damage after this type of accident. I’ve had it happen. Surprised me the first time and once aware it’s possible to correct or prevent. Just like the MU2 training and awareness may be the best fix.

If the problem is unique to the Kingairs without auto throttle then it’s not a single vs twin problem but an airframe specific problem skewing the statistics because of the large number of Kingairs out there.

Mission is changing and I am right at the trade up from the E90 to 200, Pilatus decision point. Flew both on trips to trial run but pros and cons for each.

I don’t have the data on the other types but the PC 12 fleet has almost 10,000,000 hours and no fatalities due to an engine failure.

No confirmed engine related fatalities in the Meridian/M500/M600. Although there was a recent Meridian that went down just after rotation right after maintenance. Haven’t seen a final on that one yet. 2 power related fatalities in the TBM, but both that I am aware of were pilot mediated. A runway engine and the pilot killed the engine a little short of the runway. And one where a pilot flew the TBM in a perpetual slip, unporting the fuel in the uphill header tank.

There's a chart floating around here someone else produced that I've shared many times about killing the Boogeyman idea of plm causing all of the takeoff crashes on King airs. The reality is just poor airmanship/early rotation/drugs/stalls/contaminated fuel. The ADS crash is undetermined but there was a laundry list of poor decisions.

Okay, so if that's true, why do SO MANY King Air accidents follow such a precise and exact pattern?

They rotate, engine fails at less than 200 ft AGL, they roll over and crash within a narrow distance of 3500-5000 ft from takeoff start.

We have 6 cases of this in the last decade or so.

That's WAY too many to be coincidence, and bad piloting would not be that repeatable.

Mike C.

I don’t have the data on the other types but the PC 12 fleet has almost 10,000,000 hours and no fatalities due to an engine failure.

This is from Wesley Watkins:

2011 Long Beach, CA (crashed on airport to side of takeoff runway) WAS engine failure
The pilot’s failure to maintain directional control of the airplane during a momentary interruption of power from the left engine during the initial takeoff climb. Contributing to the accident was the power interruption due to water contamination of the fuel, which was likely not drained from the fuel tanks by the pilot during preflight inspection as required in the POH."

Questionable maintenance practices, semi experienced pilot

2014 Wichita, KS (crashed into FSI reaching to side of runway) NOT engine failure.
The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident to be: The pilot's failure to maintain lateral control of the airplane after a reduction in left engine power and his application of inappropriate rudder input. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's failure to follow the emergency procedures for an engine failure during takeoff. Also contributing to the accident was the left engine power reduction for reasons that could not be determined because a post accident examination did not reveal any anomalies that would have precluded normal operation and thermal damage precluded a complete examination.
Just out of “major” maintenance including HSI, left throttle adjustment after test flight 2 days before, ferry flight for paint/interior. Pilot seemed frustrated during runup. Left engine producing power.
Plane new to owner, Experienced pilot in jets, “From September 4 to 19, 2014, the pilot received Beechcraft King Air 300 series initial training at FSI, Wichita. The training was specifically for the King Air 350 Proline 21 model.” No mention of B200 training/experience. Crash aircraft not PL21

2017 Melbourne, Aus (crashed into shopping mall off end of runway) NOT engine failure.
The ATSB found that the pilot did not detect that the aircraft’s rudder trim was in the full nose-left position prior to take-off. The position of the rudder trim resulted in a loss of directional control and had a significant impact on the aircraft’s climb performance in the latter part of the flight.
The yaw on take-off was manageable but at the limit of any normal control input. Should have rejected the take-off. After take-off the aircraft was manageable but challenging up to about 140 knots at which time because of aerodynamic flow around the rudder it became uncontrollable.

Highly experienced pilot
2 perfectly operating engines.

2018 Tucson, AZ (crashed into wall parallel to runway) NOT engine failure.
PROBABLE CAUSE: "The pilot's exceedance of the airplane's critical angle of attack during takeoff, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's impairment by the effects of a combination of psychoactive substances."
Both engines exhibited rotational scoring signatures that indicated the engines were producing symmetrical power and were most likely operating in the mid-to upper-power range at impact.

VERY experienced pilot in turboprops.
Doped up pilot hot dogging the airplane and lost control.

2019 Oahu, HI (crashed just after takeoff) Likely NOT engine failure.
The accident flight was the fourth of five parachute jump flights scheduled for that day.
“two solo jumpers decided to join the accident flight at the last minute.”
“A parachute instructor at OPC observed the boarding process and watched as the airplane taxied west to the departure end of runway 8. He could hear the engines during the initial ground roll and stated that the sound was normal, consistent with the engines operating at high power.”
On the July 23, 2016, incident near Byron, California, the same twin-engine plane stalled three times and spun repeatedly before the pilot at that time managed to land it safely, the National Transportation Safety Board said in its investigative report. The agency blamed pilot error. The plane was also too heavily weighted toward the back, which was also blamed on the pilot.

Too early to tell but looks a lot like high angle of attack, left turn and aft CG leading to a stall.

2019 Addison, TX (crashed into hangar on airport) TBD
Too early to tell and plenty of speculation offered already.
Plane new to owner, Experienced pilot in jets, not sure about king air experience, new to Fusion"

Oahu was blamed on a high AOA if I recall, and ADS was inconclusive however they were overweight and rotated 10knots early.

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I'm not aware of any others than the Chicago crash which is still under investigation but I don't think that scenario would be caused by the spooky PLM.

In order for the worst case PLM scenario you'd have to have a power level migrate back far enough to get past the microswitch to disarm autofeather and have an engine fail in those 1-3 seconds before you notice the lever migrated back and be in a high AOA configuration to allow you to VMC roll before corrective action.

I and most KA drivers have had some form of power lever rollback, it's really a non-event. Add a little more rudder as you naturally would, then add the power lever back.

There are apparently more King Air crashes as there are nearly 8000 of them flying, way more than any other twin turboprop.

I'll take my chances getting struck by lightning turning in a winning powerball ticket.

I had a micro switch replaced in my throttle quadrant, when reassembling mechanics rotated the rudder trim knob to tighten the set screw and left it about 3 notches off the center/index point

When I rolled trim to center for takeoff, I had no idea I’d be taking off with a very very very difficult to control airplane, I was glad to get back on ground

When I see these planes crashing shortly after liftoff following maintenance, I wonder if this is an issue, that you can’t reinstall these knobs in the center indexed position without additional visual verification with the rudder tab

No engine failure is needed for a bad PLM scenario. All you need is for the PL to come back far enough that you have no effective power from that engine (usually the left.)

A king air will fly just fine on one engine, even on takeoff. We've done v2 cuts in 350s and 90s in the plane and it's not a big event.

The chances of a power lever moving all the way back to zero thrust is quite low.

If you factor out boutique air and the low time owner operators, the crash rate is near nil for the Pilatus

That works for all airplane types.

Mike C.

VMC rollovers happen very fast. the ones I know about happen in about 10 sec so the pilot must be ready to act immediately.

having many successful takeoffs and being distracted by concentrating on the next step in the flight make it very difficult to be instantly ready to a problem that occurs once every several thousands or tens of thousands takeoffs

Which engine loses power? If it's overwhelmingly the left, that lends weight to the power lever rollback hypothesis. Actual engine failures, and just poor airmanship, should be randomly distributed between left and right.

Not fatals. Just all accidents due to power loss not just engine failure only.