Pilots performing post-maintenance stall test killed as Raytheon Hawker 800XP crashes in Michigan

Flight Global ^ | 11/13/2025 | Jon Hemmerdinger

[Bonemaker]

Something else must hwve gone wrong like a flat spin.

[SkyDancer]

Fifteen K? I’d be up around 30 grand and ease into it Abrupt stall at 15k ????

[libertylover]

I’m surprised they couldn’t recover from a stall at 15,000 ft.

[suthener]

“My guess is the aircraft failed the stall test.”

Or it was very successful.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Or it was very successful.

I love black humor.

RIP to the crew.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Pilots performing post-maintenance stall test killed as Raytheon Hawker 800XP crashes in Michigan

“After being unable to coordinate the stall test flight with a test pilot, the flight crew elected to perform the post-maintenance stall test themselves.”

[Z28.310]

If I recall correctly, a high tail horizontal stabilizer makes recovering from a stall very challenging. As I can understand it, the wings prevent the high horizontal stabilizer from getting the air necessary for the elevators to rotate and point the nose down, which re-engages lift from the wings for stall recovery.

In a stall, there is insufficient air across the wings to create lift, so as the plane moves forward and the plane loses altitude the tops of the wings create a turbulent wash of air above and behind them, blocking the high horizontal stabilizer and elevators from “grabbing” air across the control surfaces.

My guess is that in this event, applying rudder would yaw and roll the plane, disrupt the turbulent wash across the tail and assist in recovery, but during the process, the altitude loss would be even faster than the stall. (Spitballing here)
This just my recollection and understanding.

Pilots will have to correct me where I’m in error...

[T.B. Yoits]

You have to perform a stall test after any wing maintenance. What’s the logic behind that requirement?

At a minimum to test the Stall Warning System which was likely disconnected and reconnected as part of the maintenance, but may also have had certain components replaced.

https://planeandpilotmag.com/the-stall-warning-system/

[Night Hides Not]

Gallows humor kicks Azz.

[VAarea]

Blancorilio’s YouTube channel has a good description of this condition and summary of recent related accidents. A flight test is required whenever the wing’s leading edge of this aircraft is disturbed, to ensure that proper alignment of mating surfaces has been maintained.

It is essential to never enter stall condition as entry can be rather violent, as his video of a successful test shows; even a successful early recovery will result in a few thousand feet or so of altitude loss. Once into deep stall, recovery is impossible and the aircraft will spiral down to a crash as a leaf fluttering from a tree. The flight test verifies that warning occurs well before that point.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Thanks. I didn’t know there was such a sensor and system. Makes lots of sense now.

The Hawker sounds like a twitchy aircraft at the edge of the envelope.

[6AL-4V]

Stall warning system uses angle of attack and air speed to calculate a stall, and a stick shaker and aural warning. All of these can be tested on the ground, and often are. I’ve been on several test flights after heavy maintenance, and never has an intentional stall been part of it.

[T.B. Yoits]

Stall warning system uses angle of attack and air speed to calculate a stall, and a stick shaker and aural warning. All of these can be tested on the ground, and often are. I’ve been on several test flights after heavy maintenance, and never has an intentional stall been part of it.

Certainly, but it's dependent on the manufacturer, the maintenance performed, and who the aircraft is being delivered back to. Multiple sites highlight that this specific incident involved a test of the stall warning system. For example:

"A Beech Hawker 900XP jet crashed while doing a flight test of a stall warning system... The accident occurred during a positioning flight that happened after completion of maintenance of the anti-icing component on the leading edge of the wing."

https://ifairworthy.com/stall-warning-flight-test-turns-disastrous-video/

"The crew on a Hawker 900XP (N900VA) was performing a stall warning and systems check-in... The flight crew was planning to fly the plane... to perform a stall warning and system check, which is following the airframe manufacturer’s requirements. The requirements are listed in the pilot’s operating manual and include a required altitude of above 10,000 ft above ground level, 10,000 ft above clouds and below 18,000 ft mean sea level. The check flight can only be conducted during day visual meteorological conditions and with a good visual horizon, with the autopilot disengaged, an operative stall identification system, the external surfaces free of ice, an empty ventral tank and weather radar on standby..."

https://www.globalair.com/articles/hawker-900xp-conducting-stall-test-during-deadly-crash-ntsb-says?id=7043