Accident Sequence
On January 1, 2025, at 0120 eastern standard time, a Beech A36, N8163F, was substantially damaged when it struck a building and fence during an attempted takeoff from Naples Municipal Airport (APF), Naples, Florida. The private pilot and three passengers were not injured. The flight was conducted as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight.
The pilot had filed an instrument flight rules flight plan via Leidos Flight Service for a flight from APF to Bartow Executive Airport (BOW), Bartow, Florida. He received an email confirmation, then a second email with a route modification. The APF air traffic control tower was closed at his intended departure time of 0100. He contacted Miami Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) by telephone for taxi and departure clearance, with a void time of 0114.
During takeoff on runway 05, the airplane accelerated normally, and the pilot established a positive rate of climb before raising the landing gear. When the airplane was between 100 and 200 ft above the runway, the engine stopped producing power. The pilot felt the left wing beginning to stall and immediately pushed the control wheel forward, stabilizing the airplane but losing runway alignment. He maintained a shallow descent to avoid another stall. A building appeared ahead, and the left wing struck the corner. The airplane rotated 180° nose-down, the left wing scraped another building, and it came to rest upright facing the opposite direction.
All occupants egressed, and the pilot informed Miami ARTCC of the accident.
Aircraft and Wreckage Examination
Examination of the accident site showed that the airplane struck a hangar and the airport perimeter fence north-northwest of the departure end of runway 05. It then impacted on a road and slid onto grass, with witness marks consistent with propeller strikes. The airplane subsequently impacted the exterior of a maintenance and repair organization’s building and came to rest with the inboard trailing edge of the left wing against a palm tree.
The fuselage had areas of torn and broken skin, and crush and compression damage. The left horizontal stabilizer was almost completely separated; only the inboard portion of the left elevator remained attached. The left wing had wrinkling on the upper surface from the root to about midspan, and outboard of that point it was bent almost 90° upward with crush, compression, and tearing damage to the aileron and flap. The right wing also displayed wrinkling, upward bending of about 15°, and leading edge crush damage, with similar damage to the right aileron.
The engine with its propeller still attached separated from its mounting and came to rest about 5 ft from the left side of the nose. The three-bladed constant-speed propeller blades showed curving toward the blade face, leading edge gouging, and chordwise scratching. One blade tip was broken off, another had tip curling, and the third was missing a tip section with S-bending.
Cockpit and Weather Conditions
The landing gear selector was in the UP position. The throttle was found at FULL power, propeller control at HI RPM, mixture at RICH, and fuel tank selector on RIGHT MAIN. Electrical switches (BAT, ALT) were on; PANEL switch was in LIGHTS, landing light on, and anti-collision light/beacon selected to BCN.
Recorded weather at APF at 0130, about 10 minutes after the accident, included calm winds, 1/4-mile visibility, fog, and vertical visibility of 100 ft.
Subsequent Actions
The wreckage was retained for examination.