Narrative:

After unloading several boxes and taking on some fuel; we started up again and took off for our next stop. Takeoff and climbout were normal; however; as we prepared to level off at FL190; between 17;000 ft and FL180; we heard a loud pop from the right engine and immediately the aircraft yawed to the right. The ng dropped to near idle power and the itt began to rise rapidly. The captain immediately corrected and trimmed the flight controls. He also reduced the power to maintain itt below redline. We then saw white smoke coming from the exhaust. After it became apparent that the situation was permanent; we turned the plane around; began to make plans to land; and advised ATC of our situation and intentions. We were unable to maintain altitude initially because we had not shut the engine down right away in order to determine what was going on. We continued to evaluate the situation and determined that the engine would not respond to any power inputs and was basically running at idle. So we proceeded to shut the engine down and feathered the propeller. By that point; we were about 12;000 ft. Since we were able to maintain altitude after shutting the engine down; we decided to proceed to ZZZZ where we believed we had better options for assistance once we could get on the ground. We continued to follow the coastline as we traveled northward; not wanting to get too far from land should we have a problem with the left engine. We began a gradual descent but were still at 8;000 ft when we arrived. So we circled overhead almost 2 times before making a final approach and landing. The captain did a tremendous job controlling the plane; and we landed without any other incidents.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: BE90 First Officer reports engine failure at during climbout. Engine is shut down; propeller feathered; and flight diverts to suitable airport.

Narrative: After unloading several boxes and taking on some fuel; we started up again and took off for our next stop. Takeoff and climbout were normal; however; as we prepared to level off at FL190; between 17;000 FT and FL180; we heard a loud pop from the right engine and immediately the aircraft yawed to the right. The Ng dropped to near idle power and the ITT began to rise rapidly. The Captain immediately corrected and trimmed the flight controls. He also reduced the power to maintain ITT below redline. We then saw white smoke coming from the exhaust. After it became apparent that the situation was permanent; we turned the plane around; began to make plans to land; and advised ATC of our situation and intentions. We were unable to maintain altitude initially because we had not shut the engine down right away in order to determine what was going on. We continued to evaluate the situation and determined that the engine would not respond to any power inputs and was basically running at idle. So we proceeded to shut the engine down and feathered the propeller. By that point; we were about 12;000 FT. Since we were able to maintain altitude after shutting the engine down; we decided to proceed to ZZZZ where we believed we had better options for assistance once we could get on the ground. We continued to follow the coastline as we traveled northward; not wanting to get too far from land should we have a problem with the left engine. We began a gradual descent but were still at 8;000 FT when we arrived. So we circled overhead almost 2 times before making a final approach and landing. The Captain did a tremendous job controlling the plane; and we landed without any other incidents.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.