Rob Holland, Aerobatic Pilot, Dies in Crash at Langley Air Force Base

New York Times

24-04-2025

Rob Holland, a well-known aerobatic pilot, died on Thursday when his custom-built carbon fiber plane crashed at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia, where he had been preparing to fly in an air show this weekend, according to a statement on his Facebook page.
The Federal Aviation Administration said that the plane, an MXS model built by the MX Aircraft Company, crashed while trying to land at Langley at around 11:50 a.m. The F.A.A. and the National Transportation Safety Board were investigating the cause of the accident.
The federal agencies did not identify the pilot, who was the only person in the plane. But the statement on Mr. Holland's Facebook page confirmed that it was him.
A professional air show and aerobatic pilot for more than 20 years, Mr. Holland was a 13-time U.S. national aerobatic champion, a six-time world four-minute freestyle champion and the 2015 World Air Games freestyle gold medalist, according to his website.
Mr. Holland had been planning to fly this weekend in Air Power Over Hampton Roads, an air show at Langley, according to the event's website The show, which also features military jets such as the F-22 Raptor, attracts thousands of spectators.
Langley confirmed a crash had occurred but did not immediately release further information.
An N.T.S.B. investigator was expected to arrive at Langley on Friday morning, the agency said. The investigator will begin the process of documenting the scene and examining the aircraft. The plane will then be moved to a secure facility for further evaluation, the board said.
Mr. Holland's website says that he flew an MXS-RH aircraft, which it described as 'a one-of-a-kind, all carbon-fiber masterpiece,' designed to his specifications by the MX Aircraft Company in North Carolina.
Weighing a relatively light 1,200 pounds and powered by a 380-horsepower engine, the single-seat plane was capable of 'pulling 16 positive and negative G's, and rolls at nearly 500 degrees per second,' the website says.
Mr. Holland had a custom harness to keep him secure in the plane, the website says, and wore a helmet and a custom-built parachute for emergencies.
Videos of Mr. Holland's performances show him flying giant loops and tumbling and rolling in his plane, which appeared at times to stall in midair, all while releasing a trail of white smoke. The moves had names like Frisbee and double hammerhead.
'One of my goals is to take aerobatics to the next level,' he was quoted as saying on his website. 'I want to push the limits of what can be done.'
John Cudahy, the president and chief executive of the International Council of Air Shows, said in an interview on Thursday that Mr. Holland was 'very well known in the whole industry and very well respected in the whole industry.'
It was not clear, he said, what caused his plane to crash.
While he was known for daring flying maneuvers, Mr. Holland was an 'advocate for air show safety and professionalism and doing things with practice — all the things you would expect of a professional pilot,' Mr. Cudahy said. 'He was sort of a poster boy for that.'
Jared Isaacman, a billionaire entrepreneur and private astronaut who has been chosen by President Trump to serve as the next NASA administrator, was among those mourning Mr. Holland.
'Deeply saddened to hear about the passing of Rob Holland — an airshow legend,' he wrote on social media.
Mr. Holland has said he fell in love with aerial tricks as a boy, when he saw a plane flying upside down at an air show. From then on, he said, all his model planes hung upside down in his bedroom.
He earned a pilot's license as a teenager and began flying aerobatics almost immediately, while also working as a corporate pilot, commuter pilot, flight instructor and ferry pilot, and operating his own aerobatic flight school, his website says.
A 1997 graduate of Daniel Webster College in New Hampshire, where he studied aviation, he had logged more than 15,000 hours of flight time in more than 180 types of aircraft, according to his website.
'Rob was one of the most respected and inspiring aerobatic pilots in aviation history,' the statement on his Facebook page said. '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.'