Investigators say the Florida Learjet that killed nine was breaking apart before impact as its tail turns up miles away
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 ruled out any link between the crash and Mar-a-Lago's no-fly zone, confirming the disaster was caused by catastrophic structural failure. The jet's left tail elevator — the component controlling the aircraft's nose pitch — was found shattered into three pieces up to 3.8 miles from the impact crater in Greenacres, Palm Beach County. NTSB member Tom Chapman said the find confirms the aircraft was shedding critical parts before it ever hit the ground.
Chapman admitted that even with the elevator intact, it likely could not have saved the Learjet at that rate of descent.
The victims included tech tycoon Adam Robinson, 45, his wife Helen Sharp, 40, and their toddlers Emma, four, and Charlie, two, en route for Robinson's birthday trip to the Bahamas.
Investigators have not yet entered the impact crater and hope to begin that work today, with Chapman warning: 'It's gonna be a lot of work.'
