Investigators find tail pieces of doomed Learjet nearly four miles from Florida crash site, confirming it broke apart mid-air
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.
Investigators have concluded that the Learjet 60 was already breaking apart before it struck the ground, after its left elevator — a tail section controlling pitch — was found in three pieces spread between 1.3 and 3.8 miles from the Palm Beach crater. NTSB member Tom Chapman told a press conference Tuesday that without the tail intact, the aircraft had no hope of pulling out of a descent that reached 32,000 feet per minute.
Among the nine killed were tech exec Adam Robinson, 44, his wife Helen, toddlers Emma, 4, and Charlie, 2, their nanny and two friends, plus pilot Jeff Gregory, 55, and 20-year-old co-pilot Nathalia Filgueiras.
Investigators ruled out any connection to Mar-a-Lago's no-fly zone, with Chapman saying: 'There is no evidence of connection — purely coincidence.'
