Mammoth Lakes Plane Crash Kills Two People

A single-engine Cessna crashed July 8, 2009, at approximately 4:30 pm just west of Mammoth Yosemite Airport, with two people aboard; pilot and one passenger. Both occupants of the plane were killed upon impact. The entire accident is under investigation.

Over the years, I have debated the safety of a single-engine aircraft with multi-engine aircraft; a good friend of mine is an avid single engine Cessna pilot and he routinely takes the position that a single engine plane is just as safe as a multi-engine plane; if not safer, particularly on take off. Apparently, if an engine fails on take off on a double engine plane, you will need a very skilled pilot not to steer the plane into the ground. Does anyone have some thoughts on this subject? If so, please share them with me.