Weather is a major focus of the investigation into the South Florida private jet crash that killed nine people, federal investigators said Monday. Early evidence suggests the Learjet 60 may have begun breaking apart before hitting a neighborhood in Palm Beach County on Sunday afternoon.
“We do have some indication that the aircraft was breaking up before impact,” National Transportation Safety Board member Tom Chapman said at a news conference. Investigators may find debris some distance from the crash site, he added.
Investigators are studying the weather the jet encountered at about 35,000 feet. Shortly before the crash, the crew reported icing and moderate turbulence. Chapman said conditions at altitude still need to be established, despite the weather visible on the ground.
The Learjet left Austin-Bergstrom International Airport at about 10:37 a.m. Sunday, bound for North Eleuthera in the Bahamas. Two crew members and seven passengers were on board, according to the NTSB.
At about 12:47 p.m., the crew reported light clear icing, moderate turbulence and altitude variations of roughly 700 feet while flying at 35,000 feet. They also reported an outside temperature of minus 47 degrees Celsius, or minus 53 degrees Fahrenheit.
After encountering precipitation, the crew requested permission to climb to 37,000 feet. Air traffic control approved the request, but less than 30 seconds later the pilots reported descending and issued a mayday call at around 12:48 p.m.
“We are in an overspeed condition, descending,” the crew said, Chapman reported. The rest of the transmission could not be understood.
Later communications suggested the aircraft was losing altitude quickly. It crashed into a residential area near Cresthaven, Florida, at about 12:50 p.m. All nine people aboard died.
NTSB investigator-in-charge Timothy Manville said the on-site investigation is expected to take several days. Recovering the wreckage from a crater in the roadway will be a significant challenge, he said.
Dashcam video showed the jet dropping nose-first into the neighborhood and bursting into flames. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis described the crash as “cataclysmic” and said the aircraft looked like “a missile going down,” leaving a large crater beside the road.
Local officials said the crash led to the evacuation of about 600 people from a nearby mobile home community. The Federal Aviation Administration is assisting the NTSB. Investigators have not determined what caused the crash.
