Wednesday, May 21, 2025

UPDATE: Plane Crashes at Langley Air Force Base Ahead of 2025 Air Show, Pilot Identified as Air Show Participant

UPDATE: Joint Base Langley-Eustis confirmed the plane crash that took place earlier this afternoon. The base issued the following statement:

“A civilian aircraft crashed at approximately 11:39 a.m. today on Joint Base Langley-Eustis while landing in preparation for the Air Power Over Hampton Roads air show scheduled for this weekend.
“Today we lost a friend of our Air Force family,” said Col. Matthew Altman, Joint Base Langley-Eustis commander. “On behalf of our entire JBLE team, I want to express our deepest sympathy to the family and friends of this incredible aviator.”
The cause of the crash is currently under investigation. For more information, contact Public Affairs Office at 757-764-5701.”
The pilot who died has been identified as Rob Holland. Holland was a 13 time US National Aerobatic Champion and 6 time World Aerobatic Freestyle Champion. He was slated to perform in the Air Power over Hampton Roads airshow this weekend. 
News of his passing was shared on Holland’s pilot Facebook page
“Rob was one of the most respected and inspiring aerobatic pilots in aviation history. Even with an absolutely impressive list of accomplishments, both in classical competition aerobatics and within the air show world, Rob was the most humble person with a singular goal to simply be better than he was yesterday,” The statement says.
The incident is still under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board, Department of Defense, and the Federal Aviation Administration. 

HAMPTON ROADS — The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration in the early afternoon released that it was investigating a plane crash at Joint Base Langley-Eustis.

“An MX Aircraft MXS crashed while the pilot was attempting to land at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia around 11:50 a.m. local time on Thursday, April 24. Only the pilot was on board. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate. The NTSB will lead the investigation and provide any updates,” the statement said.

The MX Aircraft MXS is a single-seat, high performance aerobatic aircraft known to be used in airshows and competitions.

Joint Base Langley Eustis has not returned request for a statement at this time.

The crash comes just days before the 2025 Air Power Over Hampton Roads air show is scheduled to open. An MX Aircraft MXS was scheduled to take part in the show.

Per the Federal Aviation Administration, a preliminary report of the crash will be available in the next few days. A full investigative report will become available in the months following the incident.

The NTSB and FAA are asking those who witnessed the accident or those that have surveillance video of the incident to contact the NTSB via email at witness@ntsb.gov.

This is a developing story. More details will be shared as they are released.

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