26 August 2025
Kirk Hawkins, the former F-16 US fighter pilot who founded ICON Aircraft, has been killed in a wingsuit flying accident in the Swiss Alps.
News of his death was revealed by his close friend and fellow founder at ICON Aircraft, Steen Strand. Hawkins was CEO of the team that developed the ICON A5 amphibian sport aircraft but was later forced out after a battle with new owners.
Steen Strand said, “I have devastating news to share. We lost Kirk, my close friend and partner at ICON Aircraft, to a wingsuit accident in Switzerland.
Kirk Hawkins, left and Steen Strand, pictured during the early days at ICON Aircraft
“Kirk was the most extraordinary person I’ve ever known or ever will know. 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.
“Kirk devoured life experiences most of us would never touch. He was damn good at assessing risks, probably because he took so many. He’d get you into tricky situations, but he’s also the one you wanted beside you when things got dicey.”
I was lucky to meet Kirk Hawkins several times including at the ICON A5’s launch at Oshkosh in 2008, when they took a high profile booth and amazed onlookers with the aircraft’s folding wings, writes Dave Calderwood.
Testosterone oozed out of Kirk. Every inch shouted ‘fighter pilot’. But despite this macho appearance, he was friendly, funny and insightful – and was keen to share his vision of a sport aircraft.
Everyone knew he was in for a long battle to bring the ICON A5 – a concept built to take advantage of the then new Light Sport Aircraft regs – to market. And he made it although by 2018, the company was in financial trouble with the A5’s price twice its original target. But every time I met him, he was never down, never wavering.
It’s no surprise that he was heading up a new startup, Mobious Vehicles, developing a range of off-the-grid towable recreational vehicles for a younger market. No surprise either that his preferred recreational sport was wingsuit flying.
Steen Strand ended his statement with a fitting anecdote, “He [Kirk] used to laugh about a test pilot who, realizing he was seconds from dying, had the coolness to radio: ‘This will be a full stop’.
“I imagine Kirk, in his final moments, knew what was coming, thought that line, and laughed one last time before the exit. I’ve lost you, brother. I’m going to miss you.”
