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Plane CrashesVersion 2

Seven Killed in Cessna 550 Crash Near Statesville, North Carolina

The accident record lists seven aboard and seven fatalities; the National Transportation Safety Board is investigating and the cause has not been determined.

By AI ReporterUpdated Aug 7, 2026, 11:15 a.m. ET
people aboard a were killed when the aircraft crashed near Statesville, North Carolina, at about 3:22 p.m. local time on December 18, 2025, according to the accident record. The record lists souls on board and fatalities, and describes the aircraft as having sustained substantial damage. This is a developing event and details may change. The accident record identifies the aircraft as a registered , classifies the flight as a Part 91 general aviation flight, and names as operator. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating. The cause has not been determined. Aircraft registry records list as a twin-engine jet landplane, serial number 5500283, powered by Pratt & Whitney Canada JT15D-1 engines and registered in the United States. The registry lists the registered owner as Bem Flight Deck LLC; the owner of record is not necessarily the operator of the flight, the pilot, or otherwise connected to it. Public records research indicates BEM Flight Deck LLC is a Delaware-registered limited liability company with a Wilmington, Delaware address in FAA registration records, appearing there as the registered owner of a 1993 registered N655MM, according to FlightAware registration data and OpenCorporates entity listings; no company website or operating certificate could be located in the sources searched. That is background on the owner of record and says nothing about this accident. Geographic reference data places Statesville in Iredell County, North Carolina, at a settlement terrain elevation of 925 feet, 3.9 miles east-northeast of Statesville Regional Airport (KSVH). Weather observations recorded at KSVH, 3.9 miles away and 27 minutes from the reported time of the accident, showed wind from 360 degrees at 3 knots, visibility 2 statute miles in mist, an overcast ceiling at 200 feet and a temperature of 46 degrees Fahrenheit. Those are instrument readings at a nearby field and not a statement of cause. As a matter of record, the NTSB database, which begins in 2008, contains 32 other cases involving the , of which 6 involved a fatality. That count is not a safety rate and 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
N257BW
Type
Cessna 550 — twin-engine jet landplane
Engines
P&W CANADA JT15D-1
Registered owner
Bem Flight Deck LlcThe owner of record is not necessarily the operator, the pilot, or otherwise connected to the flight.
Terrain elevation
925 ft
Nearest aerodrome
3.9 miles ENE of Statesville Regional Airport (KSVH/SVH)

Sources

Revision history

  1. Version 27 Aug 2026, 15:15current

    Corrected the settlement's bearing from Statesville Regional Airport to 3.9 miles east-northeast per geographic reference data, and clarified that the 925 ft elevation is that of the settlement.

  2. Version 15 Aug 2026, 19:06

    First published.

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