Pilot Debrief

BEECH M35 near Des Moines, NM — 2025-08-14

Investigation ongoingWPR25FA256
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Date
2025-08-14
Location
Des Moines, NM, USA
Aircraft
BEECH M35
Registration
N951T
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
Fatal
Fatalities
2

Probable cause

NTSB has not published a probable cause for this accident yet. Preliminary reports describe what happened; the cause is determined later, often 12–24 months after the event.

NTSB narrative

On August 13, 2025, about 2300 mountain daylight time, a Beech M35, N951T, was destroyed when it was involved in an accident near Des Moines, New Mexico. The pilot and passenger were fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. The airplane was subject to an Alert Notification (ALNOT) that was issued on August 14, 2025, when the pilot did not show up to work in Uvalde, Texas. The accident site was located by the New Mexico State Police later that same day. According to preliminary ADS-B data, the airplane departed from the Pueblo Memorial Airport (PUB), Pueblo, Colorado about 2200 and flew on a southerly heading toward Texas. The last ADS-B data point was at an altitude of 7,900 ft msl about a 1/4 mile north of the accident site. Examination of the accident site revealed that the airplane had impacted wooded terrain on the northern side of Sierra Grande Mountain at an elevation of about 7,810 ft mean sea level (msl). The first identified point of contact (FIPC) was a damaged tree about 20 ft tall. The wreckage debris path was oriented along a magnetic heading of about 280° and extended about 300 ft from the FIPC to the main wreckage and to the farthest piece of wreckage debris and was mostly consumed by the postcrash fire. The propeller assembly separated from the engine was located adjacent to the main wreckage. The engine separated from the engine mounts and came to rest about 50 ft west of the main wreckage. All major structural components of the airplane were accounted for at the accident site. The wreckage was transported to a secure location for further examination.

Preliminary NTSB coding

  • Controlled flight into terr/obj (CFIT) · Enroute-cruise
View NTSB preliminary report

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