- Date
- February 17, 2026, 12:30 local (18:30 UTC)
- Place
- Gulf Shores, AL
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N35KABeech V35
- Defining event
- Takeoff: Landing gear collapse
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 17, 2026
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20260217000819A
- Case key
- 202457
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 failure to establish a positive rate of climb before retracting the landing gear, which resulted in abnormal runway contact during the takeoff roll.
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
The pilot reported that during the takeoff he inadvertently retracted the landing gear prior to establishing a positive rate of climb. The pilot initially tried to continue the takeoff, and the airplane briefly became airborne before he then elected to reject the takeoff and land on the remaining runway. The airplane came to rest on its on the underside of the fuselage with the landing gear retracted, resulting in substantial damage to the fuselage. The pilot reported that there were no pre-accident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operations.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N35KA
- Reported as
- Beech V35 (B)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- D-10231
- Built
- 1979
- Airframe hours
- 6,658
- Engine
- Continental IO-550-B5F, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · December 11, 2025 · 9 hours before
- Destination
- SRC · Searcy, AR
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- JKA · Gulf Shores International Airport/Jack Edwards Field, runway 09, 6,962 × 150 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Stall warning system, ADS-B, Auto-pilot, Electronic multifunction display, Electronic primary flight display, Electronic flight bag or handheld device, Satellite tracking device, Onboard weather
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
- 73
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- February 21, 2025
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 3,195 total · 719 in this make and model · 3,195 as pilot in command · 13 in the last 90 days · 3 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 80° at 13 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 3,800 ft broken
- Temperature
- 68 °F, dew point 59 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.14 inHg
- Observed at
- JKA
- METAR
- METAR KJKA 171755Z 08013KT 10SM FEW015 BKN038 20/15 A3014
Docket · 5
The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 17, 2026, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 9.3 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.