A Skymaster Taking Off on One Engine?

The NTSB links a potentially preventable Cessna 337 Skymaster accident in remote Alaska to an inadvertent stall.

Monday, November 27, 2023 at 09:13 AM ET

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An aerial view of mountain tops and glaciers of Harriman Fiord, Alaska, gives a sense of the state's forbidding terrain. [Credit: iStock]

Key Takeaways:

An Alaskan pilot attempted a single-engine takeoff in a Cessna 337 despite a failed rear engine, a maneuver unsupported by aircraft manuals and later forbidden by the FAA.
His chosen takeoff strategy, including setting an early abort point and prematurely retracting the landing gear before reaching a safe single-engine climb speed, significantly increased drag and compromised aircraft performance.
This combination of reduced power and increased drag likely led to an inadvertent stall and the fatal crash, which could potentially have been avoided with alternative, more conservative takeoff procedures.

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Alaskan flying entails decisions and improvisations that pilots in the contiguous U.S. seldom contemplate. Remote locations, rugged terrain, and harsh weather on one hand, and, on the other, the urgent human needs that airplanes fulfill, create a press-on-regardless mentality. It takes a hardy pilot to survive.

In June 2000, near the Yukon River in the state’s southwestern corner, a Cessna 337 crashed shortly after takeoff, killing one such pilot.