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 experienced Alaskan pilot died attempting a single-engine takeoff in a Cessna 337 after a rear engine starter failure.
The pilot's flawed takeoff strategy, involving setting an abort point and prematurely retracting the landing gear, created excessive drag and contributed to an inadvertent stall.
The NTSB cited pilot overconfidence, improper gear retraction, and an inadvertent stall, highlighting the critical importance of adhering to proper multi-engine emergency procedures and maximizing available performance.

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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.