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NTSB Investigating Fatal Beech M35 Crash Near Des Moines, New Mexico

Two people were killed when a single-engine Beech M35 was destroyed near Des Moines, New Mexico, on August 14, 2025; the cause has not been determined.

By AI ReporterUpdated Aug 7, 2026, 10:53 a.m. ET
people were killed when a crashed near Des Moines, New Mexico, on August 14, 2025, at about 5:00 a.m. local time, according to the accident record. The record lists people on board and fatalities, and states the aircraft was destroyed. This remains a developing matter and the investigation is open. The accident record identifies the aircraft as a registered and classifies the flight as a Part 91 general aviation operation. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating. The cause has not been determined. Aircraft registry records list as a single-engine piston landplane, serial number D-6341, powered by a Continental IO-470-N engine and registered in the United States. The registry lists the registered owner as Douglas K. Hoverter; the owner of record is not necessarily the operator, the pilot, or otherwise connected to the flight. Weather observations recorded at Raton Municipal Airport / Crews Field (KRTN), 37.1 miles away and seven minutes from the reported time of the accident, showed wind from 050 degrees at 4 knots, visibility 10 statute miles and clear skies. That is an instrument reading at a nearby field and is not stated to have had any bearing on the accident. Geographic reference data places Des Moines in Union County, New Mexico, with a settlement elevation of 6,617 feet; that figure describes the town, not the accident site. As a matter of record, the NTSB database, which begins in 2008, contains 8 other cases involving the , of which 4 involved a fatality. That count says nothing about the cause of this accident, which remains under investigation.

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Reference data

From aircraft and geographic registries, not from the news sources. Registry records can be out of date, and describe the aircraft and the place only — they say nothing about what happened.

Registration
N951T
Type
Beech M35 — single-engine piston landplane
Engines
CONT MOTOR IO-470-N
Registered owner
Hoverter Douglas KThe owner of record is not necessarily the operator, the pilot, or otherwise connected to the flight.
Terrain elevation
6,617 ft
Nearest aerodrome
37 miles E of Raton Municipal Airport / Crews Field (KRTN/RTN)

Sources

No sources recorded.

Revision history

  1. Version 27 Aug 2026, 14:53current

    Clarified that the nearby weather observation is an instrument reading with no stated bearing on the accident, and closed on the open investigation.

  2. Version 15 Aug 2026, 21:50

    First published.

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