Beechcraft 95-C55 N591R

Summary

On 23 April 2025 at about 20:21 local time, a Beechcraft 95-C55 registered N591R was involved in an accident near Lakin, West Virginia, United States. One person was on board and one was seriously injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

23 April 2025 at 20:21

Classification

Accident

Location

Lakin, West Virginia, United States

Coordinates

38.9600, -82.0700

Aircraft

Beechcraft 95-C55

Registration

N591R

Category

Airplane

Year built

1966

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Gallipolis → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA25LA186

1 person was seriously injured.

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.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

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.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.