- Date
- January 2, 2026, 16:40 local (22:40 UTC)
- Place
- La Casa, TX
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N5174CBeech B35
- Defining event
- Initial climb: Aerodynamic stall/spin
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 30, 2026
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA - LBB FSDO
- FAA report
- 20260102000059A
- Case key
- 202250
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot’s exceedance of the airplane’s critical angle of attack during initial climb after takeoff, leading to an aerodynamic stall and impact with trees.
Findings · 2
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
In a telephone interview, the pilot reported that he was taking off from a private dirt strip when the accident happened. He said that he was departing to the south and the takeoff was normal until the airplane was above the level of the treetops that bordered the airstrip. Once the airplane reached that altitude, it stopped accelerating and drifted left, the left wing dropped, and the airplane descended into the trees. The pilot stated that he believed he experienced windshear with the wind changing from a quartering headwind to a quartering tailwind after clearing the trees. When asked, the pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The nearest aviation weather reporting station was located at the Stephens County Airport (BKD), Breckenridge, Texas, about 13 nautical miles northwest of the accident and reported wind from 280° at 7 knots about the time of the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5174C
- Reported as
- Beech B35
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- D-2585
- Built
- 1950
- Engine
- Continental E-185-8, 196 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Airport
- PVT · Private airstrip, runway 17, 2,200 × 90 ft, dirt
- Equipment
- Unknown
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 66
- Certificates
- Commercial, Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 25,000 total · 47.5 in this make and model · 5.5 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 280° at 7 knots
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 41 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.68 inHg
- Observed at
- KBKD, 13 nm away
- METAR
- METAR KBKD 022235Z AUTO 28007KT CLR 27/05 A2968 RMK AO2 T02680049
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on April 30, 2026, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.1 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.