# NTSB ERA25LA186: Beech 95-C55, N591R, Lakin, WV, April 23, 2025 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · Serious injuries · Class 4 · Limited · Final report - Date: April 23, 2025, 16:21 local (20:21 UTC) - Place: Lakin, WV · Per the pilot 6120 - Coordinates: 38.96, -82.07 (estimated) - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=38.9600&lon=-82.0700&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Approach](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/500) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Defining event: [Approach: Fuel starvation](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/191) - Highest injury: Serious injuries - Injuries: 1 serious - Status: Completed - Report: Approved by Office Director - Investigation class: Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish - NTSB office: Eastern Region Aviation - Parties: FAA/FSDO - NTSB case key (mKey): 200067 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=ERA25LA186 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/200067/pdf - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ERA25LA186 ## Probable cause The pilot’s inadequate preflight inspection, and inadequate inflight fuel management, which resulted in a total loss of engine power due to fuel starvation and subsequent forced landing. ## Findings NTSB's coded findings; those marked are part of the probable cause. - [Info processing/decision: identification/recognition](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02041510): Personnel issues › Action/decision · Pilot (probable cause); cases with it: [Beech 95-C55, 3 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02041510/cases.md?model=1152708), [All aircraft, 559 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02041510/cases.md) - [Inspection: preflight inspection](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02061510): Personnel issues › Task performance · Pilot (probable cause); cases with it: [Beech 95-C55, 2 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02061510/cases.md?model=1152708), [All aircraft, 551 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02061510/cases.md) - [Fluids: fuel](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01071010): Aircraft › Fluids/misc hardware · Fluid management (probable cause); cases with it: [Beech 95-C55, 1 case](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01071010/cases.md?model=1152708), [All aircraft, 1,695 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01071010/cases.md) ## Sequence of events The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event best describes what happened. - [Approach: Fuel starvation](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/191) (defining event); cases with it: [Beech 95-C55, 2 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/191/sequence.md?model=1152708), [All aircraft, 733 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/191/sequence.md) - [Approach: Loss of engine power (total)](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/341); cases with it: [Beech 95-C55, 4 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/341/sequence.md?model=1152708), [All aircraft, 3,820 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/341/sequence.md) ## Analysis The pilot of the multi-engine airplane reported that while returning to the departure airport at an altitude of 3,000 ft mean sea level, he began to make a left banking turn when the left engine experienced a total loss of power. He immediately feathered the propeller and applied power to the right engine, which was also no longer producing power, and he realized that both engines had lost power. The pilot attempted to maintain control of the airplane while searching for an adequate landing location, but ultimately landed in heavily wooded terrain. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage, empennage, horizontal stabilizer, and both wings. A postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that the left auxiliary fuel tank was about ¾-full of fuel, while the right auxiliary tank was about ½-full of fuel. Both main fuel tanks contained no fuel. After the accident, the pilot articulated that the reason for the loss of engine power was fuel starvation. Based on the (inaccurate) fuel quantity indicators in the cockpit, he believed that each main fuel tank was between ¼- and ½-full. He did not visually look inside of the fuel tanks during the preflight inspection and that he did not get fuel before departing. The pilot also described that he should have immediately switched to auxiliary fuel tanks following the losses of engine power. ## Aircraft - Registration: [N591R](https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N591R-2025-07-21), registration cancelled 2025-07-21, S/N TE-248, built 1966 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: BEECH 95-C55 - Registry model: [Beech 95-C55](https://openairdocs.org/model/beech-95-c55) (registry code 1152708) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry engine: [Continental IO-520 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-io-520-series) (registry code 17032, reciprocating) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Airplane - Serial number: TE-248 - Year built: 1966 - Airframe hours: 4927 - Engines: Continental Aerospace Technologies IO-520 CB9W 285 horsepower reciprocating; Continental Aerospace Technologies IO-520-C 285 horsepower reciprocating - Damage: Substantial damage - Flight: Personal, Part 91 - Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Normal - Last inspection: Annual, October 29, 2024, 2 hours before - Departed: GAS, Gallipolis, OH - Equipment: Electronic flight bag or handheld device, Auto-pilot, Stall warning system, ADS-B ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 79; injuries: serious; commercial; airplane ratings: single-engine land, multi-engine land; instrument ratings: airplane; medical: class 2, without waivers/limitations; last flight review June 28, 2024; seat: left; restraint: lap only; flight hours: 2,120 total, 92 in this make and model, 1,667 as pilot in command, 5.5 in the last 90 days, 0.1 in the last 30 days ## Weather - Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day - Wind: 60° at 6 knots - Visibility: 10 statute miles - Lowest ceiling: none - Temperature: 82 °F, dew point 41 °F - Altimeter: 30.16 inHg - Observed at: UNI, 21 nm away - METAR: KUNI 232035Z AUTO 06006KT 10SM CLR 28/05 A3016 RMK AO2 T02790051 TSNO ## FAA reports on this event (1) The FAA's own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date (OpenAirDocs). - [Accident 20250423005229A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20250423005229A), Apr 23, 2025: Beech 95-C55, Letart, WV, Destroyed. The pilot departed kgas without visually checking the fuel available in the tanks. He relied solely on the fuel guages, which in a video he provided of his… From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.