CESSNA 303, BINGHAMTON, N.Y., NOV. 1, 1999–The NTSB issued a final report on the Cessna twin that landed short after executing a single-engine missed approach (Accident Recaps, January 2000). Safety Board investigators determined probable cause as “the pilot’s improper in-flight decision to descend below the decision height without the runway environment in sight, and his failure to execute a missed approach. A factor in the accident was the failed crankshaft.”
The pilot–commercially certified with 2,430 hr total time and 200 hr multi-engine experience–departed Portland, Maine shortly before 0400. In cruise en route to Youngstown, Ohio, the left engine oil pressure fluctuated and then went to zero. The pilot attempted a restart without success, and in doing so was unable to feather the propeller. He told the NTSB the prop eventually feathered; however, during attempts to restart the engine, the Cessna’s airspeed degraded to blue line.
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