NTSB finds Learjet tail component miles from Florida crash site

Federal investigators say a Learjet that crashed in South Florida was breaking apart before it struck the ground, after finding a major tail component miles from the impact site. All nine people aboard the aircraft died. National Transportation Safety Board member Tom Chapman said investigators found most of the jet’s left elevator in three pieces.

The elevator controls the aircraft’s pitch, or upward and downward movement. The component was found between about 1.3 and 3.8 miles from the crash site, according to the BBC. Chapman described the discovery as “very important” evidence.

Its distance from the impact crater led investigators to conclude that at least part of the aircraft had separated before the crash, although officials have not determined whether the elevator’s loss caused the nosedive or whether stresses on the aircraft caused it to break away. The Learjet 60 was travelling from Austin, Texas, to the Bahamas when it crashed near Greenacres, south-west of West Palm Beach, on Sunday. ABC News Australia reported that debris was scattered across a wide area and that parts of the tail were found kilometres from the crater.

The final radio transmissions point to difficult weather conditions. The crew reported moderate or severe turbulence, accumulating ice and precipitation, and said they needed to climb. The aircraft then began descending rapidly.

In the recordings cited by the BBC, the descent reached 10,000 feet per minute and later 20,000 feet per minute, with the crew reporting an overspeed condition. ABC reported that co-pilot Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras could be heard warning air traffic control that ice was accumulating and that turbulence had thrown the aircraft up and down by more than 210 metres. She was later heard saying, “We’re going to die,” before the impact.

Seven passengers and two crew members were killed. The passengers identified in the reports were technology entrepreneur Adam Robinson, his wife Helen Sharp, their children Emma and Charlie, family friends Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr, and nanny Anita Maria Cetina. The pilot was identified as 55-year-old Jeffrey Gregory, while Filgueiras was reported to be 20.

The aircraft crashed into a multi-lane highway and exploded on impact. About 600 nearby residents remained displaced, according to ABC, although only one injury was reported on the ground. The report said the wreckage was severely damaged and difficult to access because of the size of the crater.

Investigators are examining both the aircraft’s structural failure and the weather. The NTSB has not said whether the left elevator separated because of a defect, aerodynamic forces, ice or another cause. The discovery does not by itself establish the sequence of failure.

A preliminary report is expected in about a month, but ABC reported that determining the cause could take more than a year. The current evidence shows that the jet likely lost part of its tail before impact, while the role of icing, turbulence and other factors remains unresolved.