Accident Overview
On June 19, 2025, at 0846 eastern daylight time, a Mooney M20F registered as N95735 crashed near Beverly, Massachusetts, while operating as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. The commercial pilot and a passenger sustained fatal injuries. The accident occurred shortly after departure from Beverly Municipal Airport (BVY).
Sequence of Events
According to a preliminary review of air traffic control communications and airport security camera video, the airplane departed runway 16 at BVY at 0846. Soon after becoming airborne, the engine began to backfire, and brown smoke was observed trailing under the belly of the airplane. The pilot made a garbled transmission over the airport’s air traffic control tower frequency, and a controller cleared the pilot to land on any runway. The airplane initially banked right toward runway 27, then banked left and descended from view behind trees. The engine continued to run roughly, but engine RPM was still audible as the airplane disappeared. The last radar return, at 0846:55, showed the airplane at 217 ft mean sea level (110 ft above ground level), ground speed 65 knots, on an easterly heading.
Witness Account
A flight instructor at BVY reported watching the airplane depart. He noted a "significant reduction in power" when the airplane was 150 ft above ground level and approximately halfway down the 5,001-ft runway. He stated, "A few seconds later it seemed as though the plane got power back partially. The pilot initiated a left turn to the east (in what appeared to be an attempt to turn around or land on the intersecting runway 9). While turning it sounded as though there was another significant reduction in power. The plane began to descend with its wings level eventually falling in what appeared to be a stalled state behind the tree line to the crash site. In my estimation, the plane never appeared to get higher than 200’ agl."
Impact and Wreckage
The airplane struck a grass berm adjacent to a two-lane road with its left wing, then crossed the road and hit a light pole, coming to rest perpendicular to the road. No postimpact fire occurred. The wreckage was recovered and transported to a secure facility for further examination.
Investigation
Further examination of the wreckage is pending. No probable cause has been stated in the preliminary information.