As I recall it, from the point of view of a terrified passenger, that technique, or something quite like it, was used routinely at Saiq in the Jebel Akhdar in the 1970s by SOAF Skyvans operating at military MTOW and STOL regs, and sometimes - whisper - by a GF Skyvan operating under Public Transport regs, but only when no-one was looking.
But memory is a fallible guide, so probably they did no such thing.