What happened
On the afternoon of the accident, an aircraft departed from Runway 23R at Battle Creek-Kellogg Field-Executive Airport at 17:08 local time. The flight was being conducted as a test flight following recent maintenance work completed on 25 March 2025. The aircraft was occupied by three crew members at the time of departure.
After ascending from the airport, the aircraft traveled in a northeasterly direction, eventually reaching a cruising altitude of 15,000 feet. As the flight path took the plane over the Lansing area, the crew began performing stall maneuvers. During this process, the aircraft entered an uncontrolled spin. The flight ended approximately one minute later when the plane struck a field in the vicinity of Bath. The impact resulted in an explosion that left the aircraft completely destroyed. There were three fatalities among the crew.
Findings
Preliminary details indicate that the loss of control during stall maneuvers led to the aircraft entering a spin, which ultimately caused the fatal impact.