The FAA issued an emergency airworthiness directive Tuesday grounding all Elixir Aircraft Model Elixir airplanes following a fatal accident during a production flight. The directive prohibits further operations until the aircraft have undergone corrective actions approved by the FAA.
U.S. Grounding Follows European Action
The FAA’s decision follows an emergency directive issued by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency on Oct. 2. EASA suspended operations of the entire Elixir fleet while investigators work to determine the cause of the accident. The initial grounding in Europe came shortly after the aircraft manufacturer began expanding deliveries into the U.S. flight training market.
The FAA said it determined that the unsafe condition could exist or develop in other aircraft of the same type. The agency adopted the directive without the usual public comment period, citing the potential safety consequences of allowing operations to continue before the cause of the accident is established.
Three U.S. Aircraft Affected
The FAA estimates that three Elixir aircraft are currently registered in the United States. The directive applies to all Model Elixir airplanes, regardless of certification category, and generally prohibits special flight permits unless specifically approved under the directive’s alternative compliance procedures. The agency said no approved inspection or modification procedures have yet been established, making it unable to estimate compliance costs.
“The FAA considers this AD to be an interim action,” the agency said in the directive. “If final action is later identified, the FAA might consider further rulemaking.”
The FAA is accepting public comments on the directive through Nov. 27.
Matt, you didn’t mention a single thing related to why the aircraft was grounded. I hate wasting my time on articles where all the important information is in the title…
I really miss the Paul Bertorelli days. The journalism quality has taken a serious dive since the publication was sold. These articles read like low-effort AI slop—shame on the contributors lending their bylines to it. Free money for them, poor reading for the rest of us.
The left flap detached.
And two factory test pilots were killed in the crash. Both these tidbits should’ve been in the original article. It took less than 30 seconds to find this information. Unfortunately as CFB73 stated, the quality of Avweb’s articles have declined substantially since it was sold. Some effort needs to be put in past just generating quantity. If there’s a crash the results in an emergency AD that grounds an entire type, it’s 100% guaranteed every pilot will want to know the details of the crash and that’s missing entirely.
From Gemini AI:
“The exact root cause of the fatal crash involving an Elixir Aircraft Model Elixir remains under official investigation by French and international aviation authorities.
However, investigators have released critical sequence-of-events findings from the accident:
In-Flight Flap Separation: According to France’s Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety (BEA), the left flap detached from the aircraft during the turn to final approach for Runway 12 at Rochefort Airport.
Loss of Control: Following the structural detachment, the pilot lost control of the airframe.
Parachute Deployment: The crew deployed the aircraft’s ballistic parachute at a low altitude before it collided with the ground, resulting in the fatalities of the two test pilots.”
From France’s BEA; https://bea.aero/en/investigation-reports/notified-events/detail/accident-to-the-elixir-registered-f-wzag-on-01-10-2026-at-rochefort-charente-maritime-ad/