Authorities confirmed that three people died on Thursday evening in a crash involving a Mexico-registered Beechcraft Hawker 800. The jet went down east of downtown Bath, Michigan, shortly after 6 p.m. authorities said. Footage shared on social media appeared to show the jet in a rapid nose-down descent.
Local news WWMT reported Friday that the aircraft crashed during a test flight following maintenance by Duncan Aviation’s Battle Creek facility. The report said the test flight was to include intentional stalls and was flown by two customer pilots who were accompanied by a maintenance representative.
ATC audio between the Hawker 800 business jet XA-JMR and Cleveland Center. The jet flew to Michigan from Mexico in March of this year to undergo maintenance. One of the pilots can be heard saying “recover” in Spanish. They were doing a post maintenance stall check and… https://t.co/sZKsIm9WF5 pic.twitter.com/Ya2cUxb42m
— Thenewarea51 (@thenewarea51) October 17, 2025
Michigan State Police Lt. Rene Gonzalez said Bath Township police were leading the initial response, including handling road closures while first responders from both local police and fire departments secured the scene. FAA officials arrived Thursday night as well. Photos from the scene showed emergency vehicles blocking nearby roads as crews worked in the dark to reach the wreckage.
Tracking data from FlightAware indicated the twin-engine business jet, registered in Mexico, departed from Battle Creek Executive Airport and flew northeast before its flight track abruptly ended north of Interstate 69. ADS-B data showed the aircraft entered a sudden descent from 14,775 feet, crashing within 30 seconds. The jet had been scheduled to return to Battle Creek, according to FlightAware.
🚨 Plane Crash in #Michigan
— Eyes on the Globe (@eyes_globe) October 17, 2025
A Mexican-registered Hawker 800XP (XA-JMR) crashed near Bath Township, Michigan, killing all 3 aboard.
The jet had departed from Battle Creek before going down and bursting into flames.
FAA & NTSB are investigating.#ValeTudo #Caracas #EşSan pic.twitter.com/J6ysLmz2WW
Investigators have not yet released the identities of those aboard.
This is why my company started over 3 years ago using test pilots to do this post maintenance stall testing, not line pilots. I would love to get some training in stall recoveries in swept wing jets, something you don’t get in sim training! I have been told it is not the same as recoveries in a straight wing plane. RIP to the flight crew and to the maintenance rep who was also on board.
The heading for this article says: [U.S. Navy helicopter recovers pilot following ejection over Pacific waters. Attendees of the massive annual fly-in can mark their calendars for the next four years.
Seriously? Does anybody ever proofread anything any more in the age of AI generated publication?
Decades ago I was getting my first jet type rating at Flight Safety in the Falcon 20 and it was late in the course and the instructor asked if there was anything else I wanted to do. I said I would like to spin the airplane. He recommended against it but then relented and said I could do it with the motion turned off. Visual and instrumentation were fully functional. The plane has very docile stall characteristics but when I kicked rudder the spin surprised me. At 25,000’ I entered a left spin and after about three turns I almost recovered it but entered an incipient spin to the right. Three or more turns around and I got it under control just under 10,000’. My training buddy and the instructor could give no pointers when I asked because they both had their eyes closed.