Piper Malibu Tailfin Problems & Modifications

[cate]

Last night I went to the airport to hang out. It was a dead night and nothing at all was happening so one of the guys there, a mechanic and helicopter pilot, took me out to the hangars and let me look at the planes. While we were looking at a Piper Malibu, he told me they hate those planes because the tail has fallen off IN FLIGHT 8 or 9 times in the history of the plane. I am curious why this problem has been repeated so many times and if the FAA or some other entity like the NTSB has the right to demand the problem be fixed before the plane can continue to be produced.
Apparently the owner of the Piper Malibu is a bit of a risk taker anyway. He modified the 2 steel blade propeller to 4 composite blades and has had various small modifications done to his instrumentation. Is it just me or does that sound unnecessarily dangerous? FWIW, the guy has a reputation for being a terrible pilot, unsafe and generally reckless.

Any thoughts on the tail problem and modifying your aicraft are appreciated.

cheers,

cate