Tail of the Florida Learjet that killed nine is found nearly four miles away, showing it broke apart before impact
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 tail elevator — the control surface governing the jet's nose pitch — was discovered in three fragments spread between 1.3 and 3.8 miles from the crater, NTSB member Tom Chapman told reporters Tuesday, confirming pieces separated before impact. Without that component intact, the pilots had no means of pulling the Learjet 60 out of its dive, though Chapman said at the jet's extreme descent rate it may not have saved them anyway.
Co-pilot Nathalia Filgueiras, 20, declared mayday as the jet screamed down at 20,000 feet per minute, her voice on air traffic control audio growing increasingly desperate.
Investigators have yet to enter the impact crater itself, hoping to begin that work today once public works crews finish clearing water and debris from the site.
The crash has no connection to Mar-a-Lago's no-fly zone, the NTSB confirmed; the jet came down eight miles from Trump's estate during a separately imposed Secret Service 'heightened threat' period.
