Florida Learjet that crashed killing nine may have started breaking up in mid-air, US investigators say, with ice 'certainly a factor'
Dashcam footage of the Learjet 60's impact near West Palm Beach, as Transport Secretary Sean Duffy called the crash "a horrific tragedy.Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras (left), the co-pilot, pictured with pilot Jeff Gregory, whose final recorded words were the Lord's Prayer as the Learjet plunged towards the ground.Anita Maria Cetina (left), and Rachel Reed and Charmi Fehr, three of the nine people killed when the Learjet 60 plunged into a Palm Beach County road at up to 32,000 feet per minute.Adam Robinson, his wife Helen Sharp, and their children Emma and Charlie, who were among the nine killed; the crew had reported light icing and requested clearance to climb to 37,000 feet before issuing a mayday call less than 30 seconds later.Aerial footage of crash devastation on Military Trail, Palm Beach, Florida, where investigators warn that recovering wreckage from the water-filled impact crater is the biggest obstacle to establishing whether the black box recorder was even on board.The crash left a crater in Military Trail, igniting a utility pole and scattering burning debris feet from passing cars and nearby homes in Greenacres, Palm Beach County.
The Learjet 60 was already tearing itself apart at 35,000 feet before it slammed nose-first into a Palm Beach County highway on Sunday, killing all nine aboard, the NTSB confirmed. Co-pilot Nathalia Filgueiras, 20, had reported "light, clear ice that is manageable" to air traffic control moments before the mayday call; investigators say ice and weather are a "major focus." The plane was descending at 20,000 feet per minute when Filgueiras screamed "we're going to crash into the ground." Captain Jeff Gregory, 55, was heard reciting the Lord's Prayer in his final seconds.
Among those killed were Adam Robinson, a Texas tech entrepreneur, along with his wife Helen Sharp, their children Emma, 4, and Charlie, 2, their nanny Anita Maria Cetina, and family friends Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr.
The bomb-like crater blasted into the roadway poses the "biggest obstacle" for investigators, who warn the probe will take several days and expect wreckage to have been scattered well beyond the point of impact.
The same jet, tail number N7226D, was previously involved in a separate incident in which a pilot aboard was scolded by air traffic control for downplaying severe turbulence over New Jersey.
