I strongly suspect the only reason Dave started to turn was he suddenly saw or realised the Pawnee was coming. When I flew with him just before the accident, he gave a very detailed brief in the event of an engine failure. This plan was straight ahead to one of the only clear patches surrounded by heavy timber on the extended centreline.
To my way of thinking the only cure is for everyone to use the same runway and that is the one most favourable to the wind direction. I know airmanship is no longer fashionable but that is what we always did in the past and it seemed to work.