- Location: Hampton, Virginia
- Accident Number: ERA25FA185
- Date & Time: April 24, 2025, 11:35 Local
- Registration: N530RH
- Aircraft: MX AIRCRAFT TECH PTY LTD
MXS
- Aircraft Damage: Substantial
- Defining Event: Flight control sys malf/fail
- Injuries: 1 Fatal
- Flight Conducted Under: Part 91: General aviation - Personal
https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/200061/pdf
https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=200061
On April 24, 2025, about 1135 eastern daylight time, an MX Aircraft Tech PTY LTD MXS
airplane, N530RH, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident at Langley
Air Force Base (LFI), Hampton, Virginia. The pilot was fatally injured. The airplane was
operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight.
The pilot of the aerobatic airplane was on approach to a runway at the destination airport at
the conclusion of a cross-country flight. According to a witness, and electronic data recovered
from avionics onboard the airplane, the airplane leveled off about 50 ft above the runway and
flew straight down the runway for several hundred feet. The airplane then pitched up and then
down before it pitched up to a nose high pitch attitude and climbed several hundred feet. The
airplane then rolled 90° to the left, pulled over the top of a loop, and descended before
impacting the ground.
Postaccident examination of the airplane at the accident site revealed that that a
counterweight plug that normally would have been installed in the left elevator was not present
and was found on the ground about 10 ft behind the wreckage. The counterweight plug for the
right elevator was found installed and tight. The left elevator counterweight plug threads were
intact, about half of the circumference of the counterweight plug displayed gouging, and an
area showed evidence of paint transfer. The horizontal stabilizer structure adjacent to the left
elevator position where the counterweight plug would have been installed displayed dents and
paint scrapes consistent with contact with the counterweight plug. A washer beneath a screw
secured to the horizonal stabilizer structure (near where the paint scrapes were observed) was
also dented. Metallurgical examination revealed that both the washer and screw had thickness
profiles that matched the marks in the outer diameter edge on the counterweight plug and that
the marks were consistent with the washer having made repeated contact with plug.
The elevator counterweight plugs were part of a custom feature that the pilot requested the
airframe manufacturer incorporate into the elevator during its construction. The airframe
manufacturer described the plugs as a short-term solution and they did not provide any instructions for continuing airworthiness, to include torque values to be used when installing
the plugs. The manufacturer also stated the plug design incorporated an o-ring that would
serve as a secondary locking mechanism. No o-ring was found on the recovered plug at the
accident site, nor was one found on the still-installed right elevator’s counterweight plug.
Additionally, the plugs found installed on the accident airplane differed dimensionally from
those specified in a design document provided by the airframe manufacturer.
Based on the available information, it is likely that the left elevator counterweight plug loosened during the flight until it made contact with the washer and screw in the horizontal stabilizer, sufficient to jam the elevator. This ultimately resulted in the pilot being unable control the airplane during the landing, and the subsequent impact with terrain.
- Probable Cause: A counterweight plug that loosened during the accident flight, jammed the elevator, and resulted in loss of control during landing.
