Florida Learjet that killed nine shed its tail elevator before impact, with pieces turning up nearly four miles away
The tail section of Learjet 60 N722BD, whose co-pilot was heard screaming the jet was descending at 20,000 feet per minute in an overspeed condition before impact.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.Dashcam footage of the Learjet 60's impact near West Palm Beach, as Transport Secretary Sean Duffy called the crash "a horrific tragedy.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.
Striking images show aircraft debris scattered across the kitchen floor of Ana Escobar's home, which sits under a mile from the Palm Springs crater where the Learjet 60 plunged nose-first into the ground on Sunday. The aircraft had been heading to the Bahamas for tech tycoon Adam Robinson's birthday when it entered a near-vertical dive, dropping at around 32,000 feet per minute before erupting into a fireball close to a trailer park. Investigators have not yet been able to enter the crater and hope to begin that work today, pending public works teams clearing water and storm damage from the site.
NTSB member Tom Chapman said the left elevator was found in three pieces between 1.3 and 3.8 miles from the crater, calling it 'very important evidence.'
Investigators are also hunting for the cockpit voice recorder, which could reveal what pilots said as ice built up on the wings and turbulence threw the jet 700 feet.
Pilot Jeffrey Gregory, 55, a devout Christian from Gilbertsville, Pennsylvania, was recorded on the cockpit audio reciting the Lord's Prayer as the jet nosedived.
