I want to lay a few ghosts to rest in this thread...
1. Martin had just resigned from Moremi because he wasn't happy with their operations.
2. This was not an take-off failure - he had successfully cleared any runway obstacles. So discussion on airstrip parameters is not so valid as the final crash site is approximately a mile off the end of the runway.
3. He had time to make a mayday call - which would seem to indicate that whatever happened happened as he rotated/got airborne. (If you're crashing cos you've run out of runway, you keep hoping you're going to make it until you actually plant in the end of the runway - I can't imagine anyone making a mayday call while you're still barrelling down the runway in takeoff mode).
4. Trees were not an issue - the way he turned out after take off has NO significant trees. The only tree that was a factor was the one that caught his wing as he was trying to put the plane down.
5. Witnesses report the plane was on fire before impact.
6. Witnesses report hearing a pop/bang just as/after the aircraft got airborne.
7. Witnesses also report there was a horn sounding. This is speculated to be either the fire horn (appropriate if the plane is on fire) or the fuel horn (turned off because the plane was on fire).
8. This was an extremely experienced, careful, conservative pilot who did NOT take risks and had too much time on type/with PT6 engines to make a stupid mistake.
Regardless of what any official report might say, people who knew Martin well know that this accident was caused by something catastrophic happening to the aircraft that rendered it unflyable with no time to do very much about it.
And before people get on their soap boxes about the PT6 - it is statisically an extremely reliable, well-built, and highly appropriate engine. You only have to watch in Africa how much abuse these engines take from slipshod maintenance, pilot ineptitude, crass handling, and SOPs that deliberately go against the manufacturers specific recommendations to know just HOW good it really is. Don't give a dog a bad name. The PT6 is a great engine, but no matter how great it might be, how idiot proof and how well-made - it will, one day after years of abuse finally let go.
This accident needs to be looking at the cause - not the result.