What happened
On August 8, 2025, at approximately 17:57 EDT, a Beech A36, registration N60357, was involved in an accident in Wirt County, West Virginia. The aircraft was operating as a Part 91 corporate flight, departing from Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport/Adams Field (LIT) in Little Rock, Arkansas, destined for North Central West Virginia Airport (CKB) in Clarksburg, West Virginia.
While descending from 7,000 feet MSL to 5,000 feet MSL, the engine experienced a total loss of power at approximately 6,000 feet MSL. The pilot attempted to restart the engine but was unsuccessful. Although air traffic control provided vectors to the nearest airport, the distance was too great to reach the airport via gliding. The pilot subsequently selected a field and performed a forced landing. The aircraft came to rest in a tree line, resulting in substantial damage to the right wing. The pilot and three passengers were not injured.
The investigation
An FAA inspector's post-accident examination of the aircraft revealed that the fuel tanks were empty. Although the pilot reported the aircraft was full of fuel prior to departure, an inspection showed the tanks contained no fuel. The aircraft was equipped with the extended range fuel tank option, providing a total usable capacity of 74 gallons. Based on ADS-B data and the Pilots Operating Handbook, preliminary calculations indicated the aircraft would have burned approximately 61 gallons of fuel at the time of the accident. Onboard avionics were removed for data extraction at the NTSB laboratory, and the wreckage was retained for further study.