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An Icon A5 on display at EAA AirVenture 2024.
Icon Aircraft Co-Founder and former U.S. Air Force Pilot Kirk Hawkins, 58, died following a wingsuit accident in Switzerland.
The accident, which occurred on Aug. 19, involved Hawkins and three other wingsuit divers jumping from a helicopter in the Swiss Alps, according to reports. Hawkins reportedly hit a tree.
Steen Strand, Hawkins’ partnering founder of Icon Aircraft, spoke about the accident online.
“Kirk was the most extraordinary person I’ve ever known, or ever will know,” Strand said on LinkedIn. “He started life with nothing and climbed to the top—Clemson, Stanford, the Air Force (F-16s), then Stanford again for business school. At Icon, he led the charge to create the most badass recreational aircraft in history. His new startup was poised to transform the world again.”
Hawkins and Strand began Icon Aircraft in 2008 with the announcement of the A5 seaplane, which eventually began deliveries in 2016. The aircraft’s production and certification were stymied with delays and two fatal accidents due to pilot error.
In 2018, Hawkins’ tenure as Icon’s CEO ended, but he continued to champion the aircraft.
Hawkins went on to create Mobius Vehicles in 2023, billed as a “high tech mobile living” startup.
“Like all the great ones, he was imperfect,” Strand said. “Our ‘constructive conflict’ would terrify any HR leader today. I chose to work side by side with him for over a decade because the trade was worth it. It helped that he was funny as hell—equal parts Southern metaphors and fighter pilot bravado.”
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