N566C

On March 14, 2025, at 0749 eastern daylight time, a Raytheon A36, N566C, was destroyed when it was involved in an accident in Greenville, North Carolina. The private pilot and the passenger were fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight.

The flight was departing from Pitt-Greenville Airport (PGV), Greenville, North Carolina and was destined for Vero Beach Regional Airport (VRB), Vero Beach, Florida. The accident flight was the first leg of a trip to the Dominican Republic where the pilot and passenger would annually provide dental care for underserved communities and mentor dental students.

According to preliminary air traffic control information provided by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the pilot contacted air traffic control (ATC) and stated he was on the ground at PGV and requested an instrument flight rules clearance to VRB. After receiving the clearance, the airplane departed from PGV at 0746. Shortly after departing, the airplane’s transponder beacon code changed from 1200 to 3672. By 0748:12, the airplane had climbed to an altitude of 1,050 ft msl, was flying at a groundspeed of 109 knots, and was flying along a ground track of about 270º. No further position data was recorded after 0748:23. At the time, the airplane had descended to an altitude of 700 ft msl, the groundspeed had increased to 130 knots, and the airplane was on track of about 050º.

According to a witness who was near the approach end of runway 26, around this time, he observed the airplane descend out of a cloud, complete a 360º roll to the right, before it leveled off for a for hundred feet. The airplane then rolled again to the right, and when the roll was about halfway completed, it descended to ground impact.

Examination of the accident site and wreckage revealed that the airplane impacted a parked flatbed trailer and a gravel-covered storage lot in a right wing in a nose down attitude. The right wingtip fuel tank damaged the trailer and came to rest below a hole that it had made in the trailer.

The propeller, engine, and instrument panel were lodged in an impact crater approximately 3 ft deep. During the impact sequence, the right wing and forward fuselage had fragmented. An approximate 80 ft-long debris path existed that started at the area of the impact crater and ran from the crater on a 260º magnetic heading to where the aft cabin, left wing, and empennage (which was inverted) came to rest at the end of the debris path. There was no evidence of an inflight or postimpact fire.

Flight control cable continuity could not be established due to the heavily fragmented nature of the wreckage. Several unidentified cables displayed tensile overload signatures. Several other unidentified cables were found with cuts made by first responders. The aileron trim cables had pulled through the wing and the actuator pushrod was bent, making the reading unreliable.

The fuel strainer (which was integral to the fuel selector valve), contained a small amount of fuel. The fuel selector mounting plate was deformed around the handle due to impact forces. The handle was observed to be between detents. The selector position had rotated past its most counterclockwise position (right fuel tank). After disassembly from its deformed mounting plate, the selector operated as designed when air was blown through the ports.

The left and right main landing gear trunnions were found loose in the debris field with each respective wheel and brake assembly separated from them. The landing gear actuator was found loose in the debris field and its housing was impact-damaged. The drive gear inside the housing was found at an intermediate position between the landing gear up and gear down position. The emergency landing gear extension handle was separated from the actuator and was not observed in the wreckage.

Environmental and icing controls were not observed on the crush-damaged instrument panel.

The aft bench seat was not installed in the airplane at the time of the accident. The pilot side lap buckles were observed not mated, and the female end was damaged with its lever extended. The pilot side shoulder harness was frayed, missing its buckle and its spring reel was pulled out. The copilot side shoulder harness was mated to the male end of the lap harness, which was not connected to its female end. Four lengths of harness were found belonging to seats No. 3 and No. 4. Two of the lengths were missing their buckles. One length had a male buckle and the another had a female buckle, the two were not observed mated. It could not be determined where each length was installed. Portions of the impact damaged No. 3 and No. 4 seats were found, but their positions could not be positively determined.

The autopilot system was a Garmin GFC500, and the instrument panel had been updated with digital touchscreen primary displays. The displays and the rest of the instrument panel were heavily impact damaged.

The propeller hub was separated from the engine and remained attached to a portion of the crankshaft that had impact-separated from the engine. The three blade bases had remained seated in the hub. All three blades displayed varying degrees of S-bending, leading edge damage, tip damage, and chordwise scratching, with one of the blades having been sheared off near the blade root.

The engine was heavily impact-damaged. The crank case, oil sump, and accessory cases displayed multiple cracks and were missing pieces. Cylinder No. 6 was separated from the crank case but remained in place due to the intake and exhaust tubing. The crankshaft was impact-separated forward of the No.5 connecting arm journal.

The current Hobbs time could not be determined with the impact-damaged glass cockpit.

According to FAA airworthiness and airplane maintenance records, the airplane was manufactured in 2005. The airplane's most recent annual inspection was completed on July 3, 2024. At the time of the inspection, the airframe and engine had accrued approximately 1,085 total hours of operation.

According to FAA records, the pilot held a private pilot certificate with a rating for airplane single-engine land and instrument airplane. His most recent FAA third-class medical certificate was issued on September 18, 2025. He reported on that date that he had accrued approximately 1,880 total flight hours and 42 hours in the last six months.

At the time of the accident, the pilot had applied for BasicMed. His BasicMed course date was September 2, 2024, and his Comprehensive Medical Examination Checklist (CMEC) date was August 19, 2024.

The reported weather at PGV, at 0730 (about 19 minutes before the accident) included: wind 040° at 5 knots, 10 statute miles visibility, an overcast ceiling at 500 ft above ground level (agl), a temperature of 8° C, a dew point of 8° C, and a barometric altimeter setting of 30.08 inches of mercury.

No further cloud condition or ceiling height information was available from PGV until 1110 when the reported weather included: wind 020° at 9 knots, 10 statute miles visibility, an overcast ceiling at 500 agl, a temperature of 8° C, a dew point of 8° C, and a barometric altimeter setting of 30.08 inches of mercury.

The wreckage was retained for further examination.