Tail piece of doomed Florida Learjet is found nearly four miles from the crater, showing the jet broke apart mid-air
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.
The left elevator — the tail control surface governing the jet's up-and-down pitch — was found in three pieces spread across a range of 1.3 to 3.8 miles from the crater, NTSB member Tom Chapman confirmed at a Tuesday press briefing. Investigators cannot yet say whether the component snapped off before the fatal nosedive began or was torn away by the extreme forces of the plunge itself. The Learjet 60, piloted by Jeff Gregory, had departed Austin-Bergstrom International Airport bound for the Bahamas when it slammed nose-first into a road in Greenacres at near-supersonic speed, killing all nine on board.
Co-pilot Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, 20, was heard on recordings screaming the jet was descending at 20,000 feet per minute in an 'overspeed condition.'
Chapman warned that even had the elevator remained attached, at those speeds it may not have saved the aircraft from its fatal plunge.
Investigators hope to begin excavating the impact crater — still flooded and blocked — on Wednesday, with more critical components expected inside.
