thanks for the insight. The lack of fire suggests that there may have been fuel starvation in one of the engines, leading to loss of power and stall / spin. My question is, how thorough is training on the bigger Cessna twins?
I think it's proven now that solid type specific training helps reduce accidents. We see that in the MU2, and we saw that in the Cirrus. It was almost exactly a year ago that a 310 crashed in Santa Ana, and it seems like the rumor is that there are pilots who fly twins who are not proficient in single engine ops. Just curious. Not saying the accident pilot wasn't trained, the poster above wrote that he spent more time in the POH than working.. so I just mean that in a more general sense
Training is as good or as bad as you want it to be. There is no requirement for the 414.
The lack of a fire does indicate fuel starvation on both engines, which can be caused by a number of potential reasons, failure to put adequate fuel in the plane being the primary one. The complexity of the fuel system also can cause people to run out of fuel. It's not that it's hard, but it requires extra thought as you do have to actively manage the fuel between all 4-6 tanks.
@Tarheelpilot is correct that there is no legal requirement for the 414. It doesn't require a type rating, therefore the only required training is whatever the insurance mandates. However, it gets more complex than that. There is no mandated curriculum, so it's just a curriculum as approved by the insurance company.
They're ALL proper machines.
Additional regulation is a slippery slope. I'm pretty happy with the insurance companies being the gate keepers with this.
On the whole I agree with you, but the problem with that is that the requirements from insurance vary heavily with the market rather than objectively looking at what creates safer pilots. For example, when I started flying the Navajo they wanted 50 hours of dual. I had >1000 TT with almost all of it multi. That was ludicrous. Fast forward to a couple years ago, and a friend of mine with ~250 TT transitioning into a Navajo needed an approved training course and 25 hours of dual. I felt that was more appropriate, especially in his situation. He was a good pilot. But I've also seen them let people with 500TT and no multi experience go into a 421, and to me, that is a terrible idea. 182 to a 414 isn't much better. The reason insurance has let that happen the past ~5 years is because there's a lot more competition in the markets.
My personal experience with 414 training was so-so at best, as well. Yes, there are good instructors out there (some would say I'm one of them) who really know the planes and challenge their students to make them better pilots while teaching them what they need to know to be safe in the airplane. When I went to sim training for the 414, it was a joke. The instructor had never sat in a Twin Cessna before, had very little multi time, and I ended up teaching him more about the plane (plus making corrections in the material) than he taught me. Now, I know more about the plane than most students coming in, but it was a complete joke and a waste of time and money. That's not the case for everyone, but there's no consistency and there's no requirement for instructors who actually know a lot about what they're teaching - it's a crapshoot.
Wayne Bower and I were talking a month or two back and he made a very good point. 85% of crashes are pilot error because pilots only learn about 15% of what they need to know.
) has been established by the pilots who fly the bigger Cessna twins. All planes are proper machines, fine, but they're not as forgiving as a 172 or Duchess, which is what most people will earn their ratings on. In the case of the MU2 there are specific regulations around it. Cirrus technically does not, but just about all insurance carriers and clubs will require you go through their standardized program. The slideshows are a little weak, but the actual flying portions are comprehensive. Those 10 hrs are very stimulating as you work through the curriculum and you come out the other side much more comfortable with the plane itself. Do people still do stupid magenta line tricks, of course! But accident rates have shown the training helps. Surprised that there is no standard "big Cessna" program out there. From my research the insurance just requires some X amount of dual time.. but without some kind of structure or syllabus that dual time is useless if it's just you and your buddy going on some XC flights. 
