Airworthiness Directives; Mitsubishi Heavy Industries MU-2B Series Airplanes

The FAA adopts a new airworthiness directive (AD) for some Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) MU-2B series airplanes. This AD requires you to verify that the current flight idle blade angles are set at 12 degrees. If not already set at that angle, set the flight idle blade angles to 12 degrees. This AD results from a recent safety evaluation that used a data-driven approach to analyze the design, operation, and maintenance of the MU-2B series airplanes in order to determine their safety and define what steps, if any, are necessary for their safe operation. Part of that evaluation was the identification of unsafe conditions that exist or could develop on the affected type design airplanes. We are issuing this AD to prevent incorrect flight idle blade angle settings. This unsafe condition, if not corrected, could lead to an asymmetric thrust situation in certain flight conditions, which could result in airplane controllability problems.