Famed aerobatic pilot Rob Holland has died after a plane crash at the Langley Air Force Base in Hampton, Virginia.
His death on Thursday was announced in a statement on his official Facebook page.
Mr Holland, 50, was due to perform this weekend at Air Power Over Hampton Roads, a popular air show at the Virginia base.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said it was investigating the crash of the experimental MX Aircraft MXS.
Mr. Holland previously piloted the carbon-fibre, custom-built MXS-RH, a single-seater aircraft made by the same Australian company whose experimental plane crashed.
He was approaching the runway “for a normal landing” when the crash happened, NTSB’s lead investigator Dan Boggs said at a news conference on Friday. “There was no acrobatic (sic) manoeuvres or nothing planned at that time.”
Jim Bourke, president of the International Aerobatic Club, said Mr Holland “revolutionized our sport, not just within the USA but on the world stage, arriving on the aerobatic competition scene like a wrecking ball laying waste to everyone who challenged him”.
John Cudahy, president of the International Council of Air Shows, told the Associated Press, Mr Holland “demonstrated what the end of the road for a pursuit of excellence looks like”.
He performed at the 2023 edition of the biennial air show at the base and won several competitions for his daring stunts in the cockpit. He won the U.S. National Aerobatic Championships a record 13 consecutive times with his last win being in 2024. In 2012, he was the recipient of the Art Scholl Award, which is presented by the International Council of Air Shows.
His website details a list of his 2025 appearances, including airshows in Chicago, Milwaukee and Gold Coast, Australia.
Mr Holland was from New Hampshire and was a teenager when he first qualified as a pilot, according to his website. He also studied aviation at a now-defunct New Hampshire college.
“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 Facebook statement said.
The air show this weekend is expected to draw over 100,000 visitors, the air base said a day before the crash.
By BBC News
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