NTSB says plane parts found miles from Florida crash site broke off before impact
US investigators say key components of a Learjet 60 that crashed in Palm Beach, Florida, killing all nine people on board, were found up to 3.8 miles from the wreckage, indicating they separated before the aircraft hit the ground.
BBC World
Crucial components of a private jet that crashed in Palm Beach, Florida, killing all nine people on board, were discovered 1.3 miles (2km) to 3.8 miles from the crash site, National Transportation Safety Board investigators said on Tuesday.
The parts include the majority of the Learjet's left elevator, a control surface on the tail that governs the up-and-down movement of the aircraft's nose, which was recovered in three pieces, according to NTSB board member Tom Chapman. Because the components were found "quite some distance away" from the site, investigators determined they fell off before Sunday's crash.
Chapman said the loss of the elevator is a significant clue that will direct the investigation. Officials are still working to establish whether the part separated and caused the plane to nosedive, or whether forces on the aircraft tore it away during the descent. He added that the control surface may not have been "effective" at the speed the plane was travelling.
The Learjet 60 was flying to the Bahamas from Austin, Texas, when it nosedived into a multi-lane highway and exploded on impact.
In air traffic control recordings, someone in the cockpit reported "moderate turbulence" and said the crew was managing ice buildup. The voice then said the plane was picking up precipitation and needed to climb, before reporting a descent rate of 10,000ft (3,048m) per minute. After an emergency was declared, the pilots could be heard yelling that the aircraft was in an overspeed condition, descending at 20,000ft per minute, and that it was going to crash into the ground.
The NTSB plans to examine what role weather played in the crash. Investigators have struggled to reach the wreckage because of the huge crater the jet left in the road, and Chapman said the force of the impact severely damaged the debris.
The seven passengers killed were named in a joint statement as tech entrepreneur Adam Robinson, his wife Helen Sharp, and their two children, Emma, four, and Charlie, two, along with family friends Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr, and the family's nanny, Anita Maria Cetina.
The pilot was identified in media reports as 55-year-old Jeffrey Gregory. The co-pilot was reported to be Nathalia Filgueiras, 20, who earned her pilot's licence at the age of 17.