The National Transportation Safety Board issued seven urgent safety recommendations voicing concern that pilots conducting manufacturer-required post-maintenance stall test flights in certain Hawker business jets may be inadequately trained and unprepared to safely respond to unacceptable stall behavior. Directed to the FAA, Textron Aviation, and the National Business Aviation Association, the recommendations follow recent accidents involving post-maintenance stall testing in Hawker aircraft.
These current recommendations are based on a series of Hawker accidents investigated by the NTSB. In one case, a Hawker 800XP crashed in October 2025 during a required post-maintenance stall test flight following extensive maintenance. The accident destroyed the airplane and killed both pilots and a passenger. Investigators found that the crew elected to perform the stall test without a qualified test pilot, despite being offered access to experienced stall test pilots, and the airplane entered a rapid descent after the crew reported a stall.
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