Piston Beechcraft Accidents April 24 – April 30, 2025
Official information from FAA and NTSB sources (unless otherwise noted). Editorial comments (contained in parentheses), year-to-date summary and closing comments are those of the author. All information is preliminary and subject to change. Comments are meant solely to enhance flying safety. Please use these reports to help you more accurately evaluate the potential risks when you make your own decisions about how and when to fly.
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New reports this week
4/23 2022Z (1622 local Wednesday afternoon): The pilot of a Be55 received “serious” injuries, and the Baron “substantial” damage, when it “crashed in a wooded area…for unknown reasons” near Point Pleasant, West Virginia. N591R (TE-248) was a 1966 C55.
(“Fuel starvation” [more shortly]; “Serious injuries”; “Airplane destroyed” [also substantiated shortly]—the Flight Safety Foundation’s Aviation Safety Network reports the Baron was on a local flight from nearby Gallipolis, Ohio when it “crashed due to fuel starvation.” A local news report reports the pilot was “able to call for help” and was found “walking through the woods” by first responders and was then airlifted to a hospital. Photos in the report suggest the airplane will be totaled. An Emergency Management deputy is quoted:
“[The pilot] told me he had an engine problem. He thought he ran out of gas and then he said he flipped the wrong engine and turned the other engine off, and he was in trouble at that time.”
Hopefully the NTSB will make the sequence of events clearer in its investigation and reports.
4/24 0045Z (1745 local Wednesday evening 4/23): The pilot of a Be35 was performing “touch and goes” at Wenatchee, Washington, when pilot “mistakenly grabbed [the] gear lever instead of [the] flap handle and [the] gear retracted” on the runway. The Bonanza “sustained [a] prop[eller] strike and gear damage.” The solo pilot escaped injury and the damage meets the definition of “minor.” N9673Y (D-7094) is a 1962 P35.
(“Inadvertent gear retraction on the ground/touch and go”—all the usual advisories against touch and goes in retractable gear airplanes apply).
New NTSB reports this week
There are no newly posted piston Beech NTSB reports this week.
2025 SUMMARY
Reported Beechcraft piston mishaps, 2025
Total reported: 41 reports
Environment
Operation in VMC: 23 reports
Operation in IMC: 3 reports
Weather “unknown” or “not reported”: 16 reports
Operation at night: 4 reports
Most Serious Injury
“Serious” injury accidents (not involving fatalities): 1 report
Fatal accidents: 3 reports
Aircraft damage
“Substantial” damage: 10 reports
Aircraft “destroyed”: 6 reports
BONANZA/BARON Series: 36 reports
By Aircraft Type
Be36 Bonanza 17 reports
Be35 Bonanza 6 reports
Be55 Baron 5 reports
Be58 Baron 4 reports
Be33 Debonair/Bonanza 2 reports
Be95 Travel Air 2 reports
Environment
Operation in VMC: 18 reports
Operation in IMC: 3 reports
Weather “unknown” or “not reported”: 15 reports
Operation at night: 3 reports
Most Serious Injury
“Serious” injury accidents (not involving fatalities): 1 report
Fatal accidents: 3 reports
Aircraft damage
“Substantial” damage: 8 reports
Aircraft “destroyed”: 6 reports
PRELIMINARY DETERMINATION OF CAUSE
(all subject to update per official findings):
FATAL and SERIOUS INJURY EVENTS 4 reports
Engine failure
Engine failure in flight 1 report (Be35)
Engine failure immediately after takeoff 1 report (Be36)
Fuel starvation 1 report (Be55)
Impact during/immediately after takeoff
Loss of control/IFR departure 1 report (Be36)
OTHER EVENTS 32 reports
Landing gear related mishaps 14 reports
Gear collapse during landing 9 reports (two Be35s; two Be36s; two Be55s; two Be58s; Be95)
Gear up landing 4 reports (Be35; three Be36s)
Nose wheel separation during landing 1 report (Be33)
Inadvertent gear retraction on the ground/touch and go 1 report (Be35)
Engine failure 8 reports
Engine failure in flight 3 reports (Be33; Be35; Be36)
Engine failure during/immediately after takeoff 2 reports (both Be36s)
Engine failure shortly after takeoff/catastrophic failure 1 report (Be36)
Dual partial power loss/off-airport landing (Be58)
Engine failure in flight/oil loss 1 report (Be36)
Impact during landing 3 reports
Runway overrun 1 report (Be58)
Landed short 1 report (Be36)
Loss of directional control during landing 1 report (Be95)
Impact during takeoff
Aborted takeoff/runway overrun 1 report (Be55)
Loss of directional control during takeoff/contaminated runway 1 report (Be35)
Miscellaneous
Taxi into object 1 report (Be36)
Door open after takeoff/descent into terrain 1 report (Be36)
Bird strike 1 report (Be55)
Taxi into object/other aircraft 1 report (Be36)
BEECH AERO CLUB Series: 5 reports
By Aircraft Type
Be19 Sport 1 report
Be23 Musketeer/Sundowner 1 report
Be24 Sierra 1 report
Be76 Duchess 1 report
Be77 Skipper 1 report
Environment
Operation in VMC: 4 reports
Operation in IMC: 0 reports
Weather “unknown” or “not reported”: 1 report
Operation at night: 0 reports
Most Serious Injury
“Serious” injury accidents (not involving fatalities): 0 reports
Fatal accidents: 0 reports
Aircraft damage
“Substantial” damage: 2 reports
Aircraft “destroyed”: 0 reports
PRELIMINARY DETERMINATION OF CAUSE
(all subject to update per official findings):
FATAL and SERIOUS INJURY EVENTS 0 reports
OTHER EVENTS 5 reports
Engine failure 2 reports
Engine failure in flight 1 report (Be24)
Engine failure shortly after takeoff 1 report (Be19)
Landing gear related mishaps
Gear up landing 1 report (Be76)
Impact during landing
Loss of directional control during landing 1 report (Be77)
Unknown cause
Off-airport landing/reasons unknown 1 report (Be23)
MISCELLANEOUS Models: 1 report
Be45 Mentor/T-34 1 reports
Environment
Operation in VMC: 1 report
Operation in IMC: 0 reports
Weather “unknown” or “not reported”: 0 reports
Operation at night: 0 reports
Most Serious Injury
“Serious” injury accidents (not involving fatalities): 0 reports
Fatal accidents: 0 reports
Aircraft damage
“Substantial” damage: 0 reports
Aircraft “destroyed”: 0 reports
PRELIMINARY DETERMINATION OF CAUSE
(all subject to update per official findings):
FATAL and SERIOUS INJURY EVENTS 0 reports
OTHER EVENTS 1 report
Landing gear related mishaps
Gear up landing 1 report (Be45)
Recognize an N-number? Please accept my sincere personal condolences if you or anyone you know was involved in a mishap. I welcome your comments, suggestions and criticisms.
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