Attorney Claims NTSB Was Wrong In Citing Pilot Error Probable Cause In Fatal MU-2 Accident

The family of Dr. Perry Inhofe, the son of Senator Jim Inhofe, has filed a wrongful death suit saying one of the engines on the Mitsubishi MU-2B-25 Dr. Inhofe had recently purchased failed during the accident flight.

The NTSB said in its probable cause report, which is not admissible in court, that Dr. Inhofe lost control of the airplane "during a known one-engine-inoperative condition. The reasons for the loss of control and engine shutdown could not be determined because the airplane was not equipped with a crash-resistant recorder and postaccident examination and testing did not reveal evidence of any malfunction that would have precluded normal operation."

Dallas, TX-based attorney William Angelley said the NTSB was wrong in making that assessment. "My investigators found it within thirty minutes. Plus it's right there in the NTSB's own data," Angelley said in a news release reported by Tulsa television station KOTV.

The suit names engine manufacturer Honeywell International, as well as Landmark Aviation Services and Standard Aero, which the suit says worked on the engine that failed. It also names Intercontinental Jet Service Corporation, which the suit says reinstalled the engine on the MU-2.

The accident flight was the first time Dr. Inhofe had flown the airplane solo. He had completed  training required by the FAA for engine-out situations in the MU-2. In the suit, Angelley says the NTSB is wrong in saying that the MU-2 should have been "flyable" on one engine. Configured as the airplane was, the lawyer who is a former Navy helicopter pilot says, with landing gear and flaps extended, "virtually no one could have recovered from that. There is simply too much drag and not enough power."

(Mitsubishi MU-2 pictured in file photo. Not accident airplane)

FMI: NTSB Probable Cause Report