A stunt pilot was killed after crashing his plane days before he was set to perform at an air show.
Rob Holland crashed in the single seater MX Aircraft MXS ‘on approach’ at Langley Air Force Base in Hampton, Virginia, on Thursday morning, according to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
His Facebook page Rob Holland Aerosports, with 252,000 followers, confirmed the news.
‘It is with the heaviest of hearts that I am sharing that Rob Holland lost his life today,’ it stated in a post.
Holland 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 post read.
Holland crashed a couple of days before the start of the two-day Air Power Over Hampton Roads air show, where he was the only performer scheduled in the MX Aircraft MXS, WTKR reported.
His plane departed from an airport in Nashville and reached Langley shortly after 11.31am, according to FlightAware.
The cause of the crash was not immediately known, and is under investigation by the NTSB, the Federal Aviation Administration and the US Department of Defense. An NTSB investigator will begin examining the scene on Friday morning.
Holland won numerous awards, including being a 13-time US National Aerobatic Champion, a six-time World Aerobatic Freestyle Champion, and won the 2012 Art Scholl Award. The post on his death received more than 1,200 comments within hours from Facebook users praising his skill and mourning his death.
Holland’s family and friends have asked for privacy.
‘Remember…. Never ever give up on your dreams,’ stated the Facebook post, which included a photo of a stunt plane in the air. ‘Blue skies.’
