C404 pilot experiences a loss of power after takeoff at maximum weight from a high altitude airport....

Narrative:

I was close to mtow. I was given a heading of 140 and told to climb to 9;000 ft. Engine number 2 began to run very rough and lost power. I tried to adjust the mixture and turned the emergency pumps to high. It had no effect on the engine. I lowered the nose to maintain airspeed and started a turn back. I declared an emergency and told the tower I was going to return and land on runway xxl. No answer. I continued my descent and turn back to the field. I was able to maintain airspeed; but only in a descent. I called tower again and told them my intentions. They responded with 'what about xxl?' I told them for the third time what my intentions were. They cleared the runway. I then was able to feather the prop; pull the mixture to cut-off; and lower the gear. The landing on xxl was without incident. Inspection showed the accessory case had failed and basically blown off the back of the engine.lessons learned: 1: have your immediate actions to a point where they are instinctual. At this phase of flight; you have only a few seconds to get those actions done and maintain airspeed. 2: have a plan before takeoff. Know where you are going to go if you lose power. 3: if an engine is acting up; best get it feathered rather than try to decide if it's producing power or not. Most likely; the drag from the unfeathered prop is more detrimental than any power you may be getting from a sick engine; preparation; preparation; preparation.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: C404 pilot experiences a loss of power after takeoff at maximum weight from a high altitude airport. The aircraft will not maintain altitude; but the propeller is not feathered until the Tower is informed of the return; which takes three attempts.

Narrative: I was close to MTOW. I was given a heading of 140 and told to climb to 9;000 FT. Engine number 2 began to run very rough and lost power. I tried to adjust the mixture and turned the emergency pumps to high. It had no effect on the engine. I lowered the nose to maintain airspeed and started a turn back. I declared an emergency and told the Tower I was going to return and land on Runway XXL. No answer. I continued my descent and turn back to the field. I was able to maintain airspeed; but only in a descent. I called Tower again and told them my intentions. They responded with 'what about XXL?' I told them for the third time what my intentions were. They cleared the runway. I then was able to feather the prop; pull the mixture to cut-off; and lower the gear. The landing on XXL was without incident. Inspection showed the accessory case had failed and basically blown off the back of the engine.Lessons Learned: 1: Have your immediate actions to a point where they are instinctual. At this phase of flight; you have only a few seconds to get those actions done and maintain airspeed. 2: Have a plan before takeoff. Know where you are going to go if you lose power. 3: If an engine is acting up; best get it feathered rather than try to decide if it's producing power or not. Most likely; the drag from the unfeathered prop is more detrimental than any power you may be getting from a sick engine; preparation; preparation; preparation.

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.

Attributes
ACN	985995
Time
Date	201112
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Cessna 404 Titan
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 135
Flight Phase	Initial Climb
Route In Use	Vectors
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Reciprocating Engine Assembly
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Single Pilot
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Flight Instructor Flight Crew Multiengine
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 100 Flight Crew Total 4700 Flight Crew Type 800
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy

C404 pilot experiences a loss of power after takeoff at maximum weight from a high altitude airport. The aircraft will not maintain altitude; but the propeller is not feathered until the tower is informed of the return; which takes three attempts.