What happened
Immediately after becoming airborne during a local sightseeing flight, the aircraft experienced a loss of power in the left engine. This caused the aircraft to yaw to the left, and the left propeller was subsequently feathered.
The flight path angled to the left of the runway, crossing over trees located to the left of the departure end of the runway. As the aircraft lost airspeed, the captain determined that the plane would not clear a second row of trees. To manage the situation, the pilot reduced power in the right engine and executed a wheels-up landing in a cornfield. The aircraft sustained damage during the landing.
The investigation
Post-accident inspections of the left engine revealed that it was capable of producing takeoff power. An analysis of performance charts indicated that a takeoff distance of 3,551 feet would have been necessary to clear a 50-foot obstacle; however, this calculation was based on a hard surface and did not include a correction factor for a turf runway. The grass runway in use was 3,600 feet long, and reports indicated the takeoff began with 3,500 feet of runway remaining.
The investigation also found that the crew was using the rear fuel tanks for the takeoff. According to the flight manual, takeoffs and climbs should be conducted using the left and right front center wing tanks, respectively. At the time of the incident, the front tanks contained only approximately 5 gallons of fuel.