NTSB: Post-Maintenance Stall Test Flown by Crew, Not Test Pilot, Preceded Fatal Hawker Crash

Preliminary report on the Michigan accident highlights stall characteristics and fateful decision.

Meg Godlewski

Friday, November 14, 2025 at 02:00 PM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Travis Tingle

Hawker 800XP [Credit: FLYING Archive]

Key Takeaways:

A business jet crashed in Michigan during a required post-maintenance stall test flight, killing three occupants. The NTSB is investigating the aircraft's stall characteristics and the crew's decision to conduct the complex test themselves instead of hiring a recommended test pilot.
The Hawker 800XP's pilot's operating manual details challenging stall characteristics, including no natural stall warning or aerodynamic buffet, and potential for uncommanded rolling tendencies or "aileron snatch" requiring specific recovery techniques.
This incident marks the second Hawker jet crash in two years under similar circumstances, both involving post-maintenance test flights that necessitated stall checks after wing leading edge inspections.

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The preliminary investigation into the crash of a business jet in Michigan in October is focusing on the stall characteristics of the aircraft and the crew’s decision to conduct a postmaintenance test flight themselves rather than hiring a test pilot.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on Friday released the preliminary report on the crash of the Hawker 800XP (Mexican registration XA-JMR) that went down near Bath Township on October 16, killing all three occupants. They were identified as two pilots and a maintenance representative, all three from Mexico.