The initial comparison was turboprops vs. turbojets, so switching the comparison to the undoubted complexities of internal combustion piston engines is beside t

The initial comparison was turboprops vs. turbojets, so switching the comparison to the undoubted complexities of internal combustion piston engines is beside the point. The 'jet' engines used on oil pumps etc. are actually not jet engines: they are gas turbines in which an additional turbine or turbine stage is used to extract rotational power - in other words, they are more like turboprop engines than jet engines. Nevertheless, I do disagree with the suggestion that turboprops are much less safe than turbojets, and I suspect that the author of that comment was confusing them with piston engines, which also (almost always) use propellers (increasingly, we are seeing turboprop singles replacing piston twins.) Finally, piston engines themselves have become much more reliable since the days when they were the only option.