US investigators say the Florida Learjet began breaking up before the crash that killed all nine on board
Dashcam footage of the Learjet 60's impact near West Palm Beach, as Transport Secretary Sean Duffy called the crash "a horrific tragedy.A radar image posted on X shows the thunderstorm over Palm Beach County that the Learjet 60 flew into before nosediving, with the aircraft having departed Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas bound for the Bahamas.Footage posted on X shows what a witness described as looking nothing like a plane as the jet fell, the aircraft having plunged 34,000 feet in under a minute at a 60-degree bank angle.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.
The NTSB confirmed the doomed Learjet 60 was already breaking apart mid-air before it nosedived into a Palm Beach County road on Sunday, killing all nine aboard. Co-pilot Nathalia Filgueiras, 20, had texted her pilot boyfriend seconds before impact: 'I've got turbulence, I've got ice.' The jet plunged nearly 27,000ft in a single minute after flying into a fast-growing thunderstorm whose clouds shot up 15,000ft in just 20 minutes.
Investigators say ice was 'certainly a factor' and weather conditions are a 'major focus' of the probe.
The $2 million jet hit the road at such speed it left a deep crater, severing a water main and scattering debris across 600 evacuated homes.
Investigators face their 'biggest obstacle' recovering wreckage from the crater — and cannot confirm the cockpit voice recorder was even on board.
