Federal investigators have found that a key flight-control part from the private jet that crashed in Florida on Sunday broke apart and landed miles from the wreckage.
The Learjet 60 left Austin-Bergstrom International Airport at about 10:37 a.m., bound for North Eleuthera Airport in the Bahamas. It crashed in Palm Beach County shortly before 1 p.m., killing all nine people aboard.
Investigators recovered the left tail elevator, which helps control the aircraft’s pitch, in three pieces. Some were found between 1.3 and 3.8 miles from the crash site. National Transportation Safety Board member Thomas B. Chapman described it as an important piece of evidence.
Investigators will examine the damaged part to determine whether it came loose before the crash and contributed to the plane’s loss of control, or whether forces acting on the aircraft tore it off. The crash crater remains off-limits while utility crews work in the area, but investigators hope to reach it by Wednesday.
Former NTSB investigator Greg Feith said the scattered debris suggests the aircraft broke apart in flight. One possibility, he said, is that a pilot tried to level the jet, putting too much strain on its structure. The plane briefly leveled at about 8,000 feet before the crash, and the recovered pieces were relatively close to the main impact area, suggesting they separated at low altitude.
The nine people killed included Austin technology entrepreneur Adam Robinson, 45; his wife, Helen Sharp, 40; their children, Emma, 4, and Charlie, 2; and the children’s nanny, Anita Maria Cetina. Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr also died, as did the pilot, Jeff Gregory, 55, and copilot Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, 20.
Weather is a major focus of the investigation. The crew reported icing and moderate turbulence at about 35,000 feet shortly before the jet rapidly lost altitude.
The aircraft had a cockpit voice recorder, but investigators have not located it. They also have not confirmed whether it was aboard when the plane crashed.
