Investigators say Learjet likely broke apart before Florida crash
NTSB officials report that tail components may have failed in severe weather, sending the aircraft into a steep dive that killed nine people.
By Yuna Fletcher ·
A business jet began disintegrating in midair before it struck a road in South Florida, federal investigators said Monday. The Learjet was carrying nine people when it nosedived and exploded in Greenacres, roughly seven miles southwest of West Palm Beach. Passersby captured video of the rapid descent, showing the aircraft banking sharply to the right just before it hit the pavement.
The crash occurred on Sunday afternoon. The plane departed Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas with two crew members and seven passengers. Among the dead were technology entrepreneur Adam Robinson, his wife Helen Sharp, their two young children, and 20-year-old co-pilot Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras. A man driving near the scene suffered leg injuries.
NTSB member Tom Chapman told reporters that evidence suggests the aircraft started breaking up before impact. Debris from the crash is expected to be spread over a wide area. Jeff Guzzetti, a former NTSB and FAA investigator, suggested that key tail components may have been lost during turbulence or the nosedive, rendering the plane uncontrollable. He noted that such a failure could explain the missile-like profile observed in witness videos.
Weather conditions are a central part of the inquiry. Rain fell heavily on Sunday, and an FAA warning was active for nearly stationary thunderstorms with cloud tops reaching 45,000 feet. The pilot reported icing conditions at high altitude while flying at 35,000 feet. Retired pilot John Cox, CEO of Safety Operating Systems, said that liquid precipitation freezing at minus 47 degrees Celsius, combined with turbulence, would be alarming for any aviator. He described these conditions as major red flags.
Air traffic control recordings show the pilot initially reported light, clear ice and moderate turbulence. The situation deteriorated quickly when the pilot requested a climb of 2,000 feet and declared an emergency. The jet then lost altitude at a rate of 8,000 feet per minute, followed by reports of descending 10,000 and then 20,000 feet per minute in an overspeed condition. The pilot’s final transmission was, “We’re going to crash into the ground.”
Investigators are working to recover the cockpit voice recorder from the wreckage. NTSB investigator Timothy Monville described the scene work as a multi-day process, with the primary obstacle being the extraction of major wreckage from the crater in the roadway. Thick black smoke had engulfed the site, leaving little of the plane intact.
Palm Beach County Commissioner Joel G. Flores said the county does not have a timeline for when residents can return to their homes. A shelter has been set up for occupants of nearly 80 mobile homes near the crash site. Flores stated that the county’s immediate concern is clearing the scene so residents can return to normalcy while investigators comb through the evidence.
Source: Alaska Star
