NTSB Says Florida Learjet May Have Broken Up Before Impact as Investigators Focus on Storm Weather
Federal investigators said Monday that a Learjet 60 that crashed in Palm Beach County on Sunday may have broken up before it hit the ground, as they examine storm weather, icing reports and a possible cockpit voice recorder. All nine people on board died.
Investigators said Monday that a Learjet 60 that crashed Sunday in a residential area of Palm Beach County, Florida, may have broken up before it hit the ground at high speed, killing all nine people on board. The National Transportation Safety Board gave the update at a news conference Monday, one day after the crash.
The private jet had taken off from Austin, Texas, and was headed to the Bahamas, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. It crashed around 12:50 p.m. ET Sunday near Military Trail, close to the entrance of a mobile home park. The crash left a large crater by the road, scattered debris across an area about half a mile by four tenths of a mile, and forced around 600 people to leave their homes, officials said.
One man on the ground suffered a leg injury, officials said. No other injuries on the ground were reported. The Palm Beach County Medical Examiner’s Office said Monday that it was still working to officially identify the nine people on board, while family members identified several of them to reporters.
Weather and icing are a central line of inquiry
National Transportation Safety Board member Tom Chapman said weather conditions are a major focus of the investigation. Heavy rainfall and thunderstorms were occurring in the area at the time of the crash, according to AccuWeather. The crew reported ice at 35,000 feet and then reported a descent rate of 10,000 feet per minute that quickly increased to 22,000 feet per minute, Reuters reported.
Chapman said investigators have some evidence that the aircraft broke up before impact. “We may find parts of the aircraft some distance away from the actual impact site,” he said. He said maintenance records show a cockpit voice recorder was installed on the jet at some point, but investigators do not know whether it was still on board before the crash. “We’re very hopeful that we can recover it,” he said, according to USA Today.
The cause of the crash has not been determined, and investigators declined to speculate on what brought the plane down. USA Today reported that cockpit audio reviewed by reporters showed the crew managing ice and moderate turbulence, issuing a mayday call, and then reporting a rapid descent before a final transmission that they were out of time.
Families name victims as the investigation continues
Family members identified a married couple and their two young children among those killed: Adam Robinson, 45, his wife, Helen Sharp, 40, and their children Emma, 2, and Charlie, 4. Relatives also identified the children’s nanny and another couple among the passengers, according to the Palm Beach Post. The mother of 20-year-old copilot Nathalia Filgueiras identified her daughter as one of the pilots, according to reports in the New York Times and the New York Post cited by USA Today.
Water in the impact crater was making recovery work harder on Monday, investigators said, and the mobile home park near the site remained closed while the investigation continued. The earlier report on the crash, which confirmed all nine people on board had died, was published Sunday.
Reporting based on coverage by Reuters and USA Today.
