A key piece of the Learjet that crashed in Florida, killing all nine people aboard, was discovered nearly four miles from the impact site, National Transportation Safety Board investigators revealed Tuesday, confirming the aircraft was disintegrating mid-flight before hitting the ground.
Missing Elevator Points to Fatal Sequence
NTSB member Tom Chapman reported that most of the left elevator, a critical tail component controlling the aircraft’s pitch, was recovered in three separate pieces scattered between 1.3 and 3.8 miles from Greenacres near West Palm Beach, where the jet crashed Sunday afternoon. Without this elevator intact, the pilot would have been unable to pull the Learjet out of its nosedive, Chapman explained during a news conference. The discovery represents a vital clue for investigators, though Chapman cautioned they have not yet determined whether the elevator’s loss caused the aircraft to lose control or resulted from extreme forces during the descent.
Aviation safety expert Jeff Guzzetti told reporters the scattered pieces likely broke off as a consequence of the nosedive rather than its cause. The relatively close proximity of the debris to the crash site suggests the elevator components separated near ground level. If the parts had detached at higher altitude, Guzzetti noted, they would have been found significantly farther away.
Weather Emerges as Investigation Focus
The Learjet 60 departed Austin, Texas, bound for the Bahamas when disaster struck. Investigators confirmed weather conditions remain a central focus of their inquiry. Co-pilot Nathalia Gadelha Filgueira sent a text message to her boyfriend approximately ten minutes before the crash, reporting turbulence and ice accumulation. During the final two minutes of flight, Filgueira’s radio communications shifted from calm professionalism to urgent distress calls as the aircraft plummeted, with ice building on the plane and turbulence causing violent altitude fluctuations exceeding 700 feet.
Captain Jeff Gregory, a 55-year-old longtime aviator from the Philadelphia suburbs and devout Christian, commanded the doomed flight. As the plane descended, a man’s voice could be heard reciting the Lord’s Prayer during the co-pilot’s final radio transmissions to air traffic control. Friends believe it was Gregory.
Investigation Continues Despite Challenges
The Learjet struck the ground with sufficient force to create a crater before erupting in flames. Approximately 600 nearby residents remain displaced, though only one person on the ground sustained injuries. After days of heavy rainfall, investigators planned to access the crater Wednesday, expecting to recover critical aircraft components. Teams have been collecting dashcam footage, interviewing witnesses, and gathering wreckage scattered across the area. Among the victims was a nanny from Colombia who cared for the Robinson family’s children with devotion and unconditional love, according to a joint family statement.