# NTSB ERA25LA307: Beech A36, N60357, Wirt County, WV, August 8, 2025

- Type: NTSB accident investigation
- Classification: Accident · No injuries · Class 3 · Limited · Preliminary report
- Date: August 8, 2025, 17:57 local (21:57 UTC)
- Place: Wirt County, WV
- Coordinates: 38.919344, -81.336982 (estimated)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=38.9193&lon=-81.3370&mi=10
- Phase of flight: [Enroute](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/400) (OpenAirDocs' grouping)
- Defining event: [Enroute: Loss of engine power (total)](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/341)
- Highest injury: No injuries
- Injuries: 4 uninjured
- Status: Investigation ongoing
- Investigation class: Class 3
- NTSB office: Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties: FAA/FSDO
- NTSB case key (mKey): 200834
- NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=ERA25LA307
- NTSB preliminary report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/200834/pdf
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ERA25LA307

## Preliminary report

On August 8, 2025, about 1757 eastern daylight time, a Beech A36, N60357, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident in Wirt County, West Virginia. The commercial pilot and three passengers were not injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 corporate flight. The pilot reported that he departed Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport/Adams Field (LIT), Little Rock, Arkansas at 1233 central daylight time with a destination of North Central West Virginia Airport (CKB), Clarksburg, West Virginia, which was a straight-line distance of 637.5 nautical miles (nm). About 23 minutes from the destination airport, he began a descent from 7,000 ft mean sea level (msl) to 5,000 ft msl. Around 6,000 ft msl the engine experienced a total loss of power. The pilot attempted to restart the engine and was unsuccessful, the air traffic controller gave the pilot a vector to the closest airport, but it was too far for the airplane to glide to. The pilot selected a field and performed a forced landing. The airplane came to rest in a tree line at the end of the field and sustained substantial damage to the right wing. Postaccident examination of the airplane by an FAA inspector revealed that the fuel tanks did not contain any fuel. The pilot reported that prior to the flight the airplane was full of fuel. The manufacturer of the airplane reported that the accident airplane had been manufactured with the extended range fuel tank option and had a total usable fuel capacity of 74 gallons. Preliminary fuel burn calculations based on the ADS-B data and the Pilots Operating Handbook showed that at the time of the accident the airplane would have burned about 61 gallons of fuel. The onboard avionics were removed and sent to the National Transportation Safety Board vehicle recorders laboratory for data extraction. The wreckage was retained for further examination.

## Sequence of events

The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event best describes what happened.

- [Enroute: Loss of engine power (total)](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/341) (defining event); cases with it: [Beech A36, 56 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/341/sequence.md?model=1151604), [All aircraft, 3,820 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/341/sequence.md)

## Aircraft

- Registration: [N60357](https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N60357), registered now, S/N E-1478, built 1979 (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: BEECH A36
- Registry model: [Beech A36](https://openairdocs.org/model/beech-a36) (registry code 1151604) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: [Continental IO-520 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-io-520-series) (registry code 17032, reciprocating) (OpenAirDocs)
- Category: Airplane
- Serial number: E-1478
- Year built: 1979
- Airframe hours: 3236.88
- Damage: Substantial damage
- Flight: Executive/Corporate, Part 91
- Operator: Central Flying Service LLC
- Registered owner: Central Flying Service LLC
- Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Normal
- Last inspection: Annual, January 8, 2025
- Departed: LIT, Little Rock, AR
- Destination: CKB, Clarksburg, WV
- Flight plan: VFR/IFR
- Equipment: Onboard weather, Electronic primary flight display, Auto-pilot, ADS-B

## Weather

- Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day
- Wind: 90° at 7 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Temperature: 84 °F, dew point 57 °F
- Altimeter: 30.13 inHg
- Observed at: PKB, 17 nm away
- METAR: KPKB 082153Z 09007KT 10SM SCT049 29/14 A3013 RMK AO2 SLP197 T02940144 $

## 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 20250808010369A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20250808010369A), Aug 8, 2025: Beech A36, Palestine, WV, Substantial damage. Starting decent to ckb PIC encountered engine failure, tried to re-start with no success. PIC was vectored to alternate airfield but could not make it.…

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.