Icon Aircraft INC A5 accident near Gulf Shores, Alabama, December 30, 2025
On December 30, 2025 at about 4:54 pm local time, a 2024 Icon Aircraft INC A5, registered N601BA, was substantially damaged in an accident during landing near Gulf Shores, Alabama (Gulf Shores Intl/Jack Edwards airport). It was an instructional flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). No one was hurt; 2 people were on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
A nose landing gear collapse during landing.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made November 2, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- December 30, 2025 · about 4:54 pm local time · cases in 2025
- Place
- Gulf Shores, Alabama · Gulf Shores Intl/Jack Edwards · cases near this airport · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 2 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Icon Aircraft INC A5, built 2024 · all A5s on the register
- Registration
- N601BA · registry record · serial 00217
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The pilot and the flight instructor onboard the amphibious airplane were conducting a normal landing to a paved runway. The pilots reviewed the before landing checklist and confirmed that the landing gear was down and locked utilizing the position switch, indicator light, and visually. Once the airplane touched down, the nose landing gear collapsed resulting in substantial damage to the lower fuselage. Following the accident, the pilot did not respond to multiple attempts to coordinate an examination of the airplane or facilitate an interview of the maintenance personnel who examined the airplane after the accident. The pilot did provide a video that depicted maintenance personnel narrating and showing the landing gear handle in the down position while the landing gear actuator switch was in the up position and the corresponding nose landing gear was in the up position.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
What happened, in order
- Landing gear collapse during landing defining event
The NTSB's findings
- Aircraft › Aircraft systems › Landing gear system › Gear extension and retract sys › Not specified other cases naming the landing gear
Dual student
- Certificate: student
- Flight time: 235 hours in all; 159 in this make and model; 14 in the last 90 days; 5 in the last 30 days
- Medical certificate: None
- Seat: unk
- Injury: no injuries
Flight instructor
- Certificate: flight instructor, private
- Ratings: single-engine land; single-engine sea; instructor: airplane single-engine
- Flight time: 4,300 hours in all; 0 in this make and model; 75 in the last 90 days; 25 in the last 30 days; 4,200 as pilot in command; 3,300 on instruments
- Last flight review: December 1, 2025
- Medical certificate: BasicMed (without waivers/limitations)
- Seat: rgt
- Injury: no injuries
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 299 hours
- Last inspection: condition inspection, July 1, 2025; 99 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 1,570 lb
- Seats: 2
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: Rotax 912 IS (piston); 299 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: DTS Destin FL at 3:30 pm
- Destination: JKA Gulf Shores AL
- Flight plan: none
- Runway 17/3, 3,596 ft by 75 ft
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 360° at 11 knots, gusting 22
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: clear
- Temperature: 50°F (10°C), dew point 19°F (-7°C)
- Altimeter: 30.26 inHg
- Observation at 1:00 pm from JKA
Weather report (METAR): METAR KJKA 301855Z 36011G22KT 330V030 10SM CLR 10/M07 A3026
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flight crew | 2 |
Photographs from the investigation 3 pictures from the NTSB's docket, as the NTSB released them
Photograph 1 – Photograph of Accident Aircraft
Photograph 2 – Damage to Nose Landing Gear Doors
Photograph 3 – Damage to Lower FuselageThe NTSB's photographs with the NTSB's captions, at screen size. Open a picture to see it full size or to report one that should not be shown.
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
4 documents, released by the NTSB on May 21, 2026. View them here, or download them; the NTSB redacts some personal details before release, and this site shows the NTSB's own titles rather than its file names.
| # | Document | What it is | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pilot/operator Aircraft Accident Report, NTSB Form 6120.1 | PDF, 10 pages | View Download |
| 2 | Memorandum for Record A�� Pilot Contact Attempts | PDF, 1 page | View Download |
| 3 | Investigative Photographs | PDF, 4 pages · our copy | View Download |
| 4 | Memorandum for Record A�� Summary of Landing Gear Video | PDF, 1 page | View Download |
The same docket at the NTSB · documents without a copy here are fetched from the NTSB when you open them.
Connections how this case links to the rest of the register
- N601BA on the register today · the tail number may have moved to another aircraft since
- Icon Aircraft Inc A5 202 registered today · the model family and its accident history
- Engine: Rotax 912 IS 878 aircraft carry this series today · as the NTSB recorded it
- Gulf Shores Intl/Jack Edwards Field · nearest airport
- Destin Executive · departed from
- Accidents and incidents in Alabama 1,211 since 1982 · 173 in the last ten years
- Alabama 4,355 aircraft registered
The whole map of how records connect · these connections as data: /graph/accident/ERA26LA083.json.
The bigger picture in Aviation Analytics: accidents over time since 1982, by model, by phase of flight and conditions, by place and on the map.
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text does not name anyone involved, its policy at this time. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.