Beechcraft K35 N5353E

Summary

On 16 July 2025 at about 19:02 local time, a Beechcraft K35 registered N5353E was involved in an accident near Sylacauga, Alabama, United States. One person was on board and one was seriously injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. No probable cause has been published yet; this accident is still under investigation.

Date

16 July 2025 at 19:02

Classification

Accident

Location

Sylacauga, Alabama, United States

Nearest airport

Merkel Fld Sylacauga Muni (SCD)

Coordinates

33.1729, -86.3226

Aircraft

Beechcraft K35

Registration

N5353E

Category

Airplane

Year built

1959

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Business

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Pensacola → Lexington

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA25LA269

1 person was seriously injured.

The NTSB has not published a probable cause for this record. The investigation is still open; a final report usually follows one to two years after the accident.

Nothing about the cause is stated here that is not in the source record.

Read the full NTSB narrative

On July 16, 2025, at 1402 central standard time, a Beech K35, N5353E, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Sylacauga, Alabama. The private pilot sustained serious injuries. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. According to the pilot, the airplane had a remanufactured engine installed about 30 hours prior to the accident. The remanufactured engine had experienced maintenance issues with the magnetos, spark plug fouling, and abnormal cylinder temperatures with the number four cylinder. Maintenance personnel replaced all of the spark plugs with new spark plugs and maintenance runups were conducted that showed no abnormal operation. After departing on the accident flight, about an hour into the flight, the pilot reported that the number one cylinder head temperature dropped below 300 degrees and was accompanied by a “high” exhaust gas temperature. The pilot contacted air traffic control and attempted to divert to Northeast Alabama Regional Airport (GAD), Gadsden, Alabama. The engine began to run rough and the pilot cycled the ignition switch with no change. The pilot declared an emergency, and he was given radar vectors to Merkel Field Sylacauga Municipal Airport (SCD), Sylacauga, Alabama. The airplane could not maintain altitude and he conducted a forced landing into wooded terrain about 1-mile west of SCD. The airplane came to rest inverted and both wings, the fuselage, and the empennage sustained substantial damage. The wreckage was recovered and retained for further examination.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.