Cessna T337E accident near Orcas Island, Washington, March 29, 2005
On March 29, 2005 at about 8:25 pm local time, a Cessna T337E, registered N1711M, was substantially damaged in an accident near Orcas Island, Washington. It was a personal flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). 1 person was killed and 1 person had minor injuries. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The loss of power for undetermined reasons which resulted in a forced landing and impact with water.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 4, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- March 29, 2005 · about 8:25 pm local time
- Place
- Orcas Island, Washington · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 1 person was killed and 1 person had minor injuries.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Cessna T337E · all T337Es on the register
- Registration
- N1711M · registry record · serial 33701311
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
Approximately 2 minutes after taking off the passenger noted that one of the engines began to run rough, followed by the second engine losing power after the pilot attempted to switch the fuel selector. The airplane subsequently impacted the water, blowing out the cabin windows. The passenger successfully exited the airplane, and then aided the pilot in getting out of the aircraft and up on to the wing. After about 30 minutes the airplane began to sink in about 200 feet of water, which prompted the passenger to begin swimming to shore, a distance of approximately one-half mile. The passenger attempted to get the pilot to swim to shore, which he did, but after a short period of time the pilot communicated to his passenger that he could not continue. The passenger was subsequently rescued; however, the pilot did not survive and was recovered a short time later. The day prior to the accident the pilot had picked up the airplane from a repair facility, flying three 20 mile legs between the repair facility, to his home, back to the repair facility, and then back to his home again, shuttling his family and their luggage. After arriving at his home base a family member queried him as to how he felt about the airplane, to which the pilot responded, "fine." The pilot did not report any anomalies with the airplane or engines prior to the flight which would have precluded normal operations. An attempt to locate and recover the airplane was not successful.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Pilot
- Certificate: commercial pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; single-engine sea; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 3,400 hours in all
- Medical certificate: Class 2 (with waivers/limitations)
- Seat: left
- Injury: fatal
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 2,787 hours
- Last inspection: annual inspection, March 1, 2005; 2 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 4,400 lb
- Seats: 4
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine 1: Continental IO-360 (piston); 0 hours total
- Engine 2: Continental IO-360 (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: 38WA Blakely Island WA at 8:20 pm
- Destination: BLI Bellingham WA
- Flight plan: none
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 220° at 10 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: broken clouds at 2,100 ft; not recorded
- Temperature: 50°F (10°C), dew point 43°F (6°C)
- Altimeter: 29.65 inHg
- Observation at 8:53 pm from BlI, 12 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 | |||
| Passengers | 1 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
About this page
Everything above comes from the NTSB's public accident database: the narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words, and the coded tables behind its report (pilot, aircraft, flight, weather, injuries, sequence of events) are written out in plain English. Pilots' ages, home towns and medical details are left out on purpose. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, the folder of records gathered during the investigation, shown as the NTSB released them (the NTSB redacts some personal details first) and listed under the NTSB's own titles. This site's own text never names pilots, passengers or anyone else involved. A preliminary report describes what is known soon after the event and can change; the final report, with the probable cause, usually follows one to two years later and this page is refreshed when it does. Case number SEA05LA068.