HAMPTON, Va. — As famed aerobatic pilot Rob Holland was approaching Langley Air Force Base Thursday, his MXS-RH stunt plane crashed between the taxiway and runway, National Transportation Safety Board representative Dan Boggs said Friday at a news conference to discuss the crash.
This one of several new details to emerge as the investigation into the fatal crash began Friday.
According to Boggs, the NTSB will move Holland's plane off-base to examine the wreckage and will listen to the communications between Holland and air traffic control.
Watch: NTSB, Langley hold news conference to discuss fatal plane crash
"We are getting that download as we speak. It hasn't been done yet, but I will get the entire communication," Boggs explained.
Boggs added that going through the wreckage could take two to three days.
“I’m going to examine everything with the aircraft. If I find something during that investigation that the industry needs to know about, we will immediately put out a safety bulletin for all pilots that fly that class. ‘Hey, be on the look out’ or ‘We’re looking at something.’ But we just don’t know yet. We’re not there," said Boggs.
Watch: Stunt pilot Rob Holland dies in crash at Langley AFB ahead of air show performance
At the news conference, the base commander Col. Matt Altman offered condolences.
"The world of aviation has truly lost a legend, a hero," Altman said. "Team JBLE continues to support the NTSB investigation and the family of the fallen pilot as best as we can."
Condolences continued to pour in Friday for Holland, a day after posts on his social media accounts identified him as the person killed in a plane crash at the Air Force base.
Watch: Who was Rob Holland, the pilot who died in the crash at Langley AFB?
As News 3 has reported, Holland was flying from Nashville, Tenn. to the base in Hampton for the Air Power Over Hampton Roads air show.
Kimberly Concitis said she lives near the base and believes she heard the crash. She described it as a loud noise, but didn't realize until she saw news reports Thursday afternoon that what she had heard was likely the plane crash.
“I was, like, ‘Okay. Just a noise, something, I don’t know. Then I saw that line. It was straight, but then it started going like this. It was very close. I was, like, ’No, that’s not normal. Something happened right there,’" Concitis recalled, referring to the contrail created by planes as they fly.
Watch: Langley Air Show returns to the skies of Hampton Roads
She said her son is a big fan of Holland and the tragedy is especially tough because her son lost his grandfather a few years earlier.
"We know how to deal with grief," Concitis said. "I had told my son afterward. He was pretty oblivious to it. He was outside playing, jumping on the trampoline with h is friends. I had told him afterward and he was, like, ‘What?’ I said, ‘Yeah, there was a crash that happened’ and all that stuff. He was distraught for a second but he’s seven, so now he’s off to something else.”
Concitis was not going to let the tragedy stop her and her family from going to the air show.
Watch: Looking back at the NAS Oceana Air Show fatal crash from 2007
“I’m hoping I’m going to be a part of any memorial they do. I’m definitely going to be there and be a part of all of it. I’m not going to stop my kids and me from having a good time at the air show even though something could happen. I mean, every day you walk outside something could happen to you," said Concitis.
Altman said as of Friday afternoon the air show would go on mostly as planned but discussion was still happening about what the final plan would look like.
