Short SC-7 Skyvan, McGrath, Alaska, Sept. 20, 2007–The NTSB did not determine why the Short turboprop twin crashed on takeoff from a remote 1,000-foot lodge airstrip. The airplane was being ferried to a maintenance facility, following previous substantial damage to the nosewheel assembly and subsequent repairs.
The airplane did not lift off until the end of the airstrip, at which point the wheels struck the tops of six- to seven-foot trees and shrubs, and the airplane veered to the right and crashed into Amos Lake, coming to rest about 300 feet from shore in about five feet of water. The entire cockpit area, forward of the wings, was destroyed. The lodge owner rescued the pilot, who was transported via helicopter to a hospital in Anchorage, where he died of his injuries five days later.