A Learjet 60 carrying nine people may have started breaking apart mid-air before plunging into a Florida roadway and erupting into a fireball, federal investigators said on Monday. The aircraft was flying from Austin, Texas, to the Bahamas on Sunday when it suddenly went into a steep nosedive, leaving behind a crater and a widespread debris field near West Palm Beach.The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said investigators were examining whether severe weather, ice accumulation and turbulence contributed to the crash, while also looking into possible mechanical problems and the actions of the flight crew. The victims included 20-year-old co-pilot Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, technology entrepreneur Adam Robinson, his wife Helen Sharp, their children Emma, 4, and Charlie, 2, as well as three other passengers. The pilot was identified as 55-year-old Jeff Gregory.NTSB member Tom Chapman said investigators had found indications that the aircraft began breaking apart before impact, raising the possibility that debris could be scattered across a considerable distance from the crash site.“We may find parts of the aircraft some distance away from the actual impact site,” Chapman said.
Ice, turbulence under scanner as jet plunges
Weather conditions are expected to be a major focus of the investigation. During the flight, the crew reported icing conditions at an altitude of around 35,000 feet, with temperatures reaching minus 47 degrees Celsius. The pilots also reported moderate turbulence and precipitation before requesting clearance to climb to 37,000 feet to avoid the weather.Air traffic controllers had warned the crew about approaching storms as the aircraft crossed into Florida. However, the plane subsequently began losing altitude at an alarming rate.According to recordings of air traffic control communications, the crew declared a mayday as the aircraft began descending at around 8,000 feet per minute. The rate increased to 20,000 feet per minute, with the pilot warning that the aircraft was in an overspeed condition.“We’re going to crash into the ground!” the pilot told air traffic control in one of the final transmissions.The aircraft eventually plunged at a rate of around 27,000 feet per minute, according to flight-tracking data, before communications were lost.AccuWeather said the tops of some storm clouds in the region reached 45,000 feet, potentially making it difficult for aircraft to fly over the storm system. Former NTSB and Federal Aviation Administration investigator Jeff Guzzetti said key components of the jet’s tail may have been lost during the turbulence or steep descent, potentially making the aircraft impossible to control.“That very well could explain the missile-like profile just before it hit the ground,” he said.Investigators are also hoping to recover the aircraft’s cockpit voice recorder to establish what happened in its final moments. However, heavy rainfall has complicated the operation, with the impact crater partially filled with water.“This will be a several-day process, and the biggest obstacle that we’re going to have is recovering the major wreckage from the impacted crater on the roadway,” NTSB investigator Timothy Monville said.
Tech entrepreneur, family among nine victims
The victims included Adam Robinson, his wife Helen Sharp and their children Emma and Charlie. The family was travelling with Rachel Reed, Charmi Fehr and Anita Maria Cetina, according to a joint statement released by relatives.Robinson was a technology entrepreneur who founded and led companies including RB2B and Retention.com. He had previously worked at financial services firm Lehman Brothers and banking group Barclays.The family statement described Robinson and Sharp as “devoted parents”, adding that their children were “the light of their lives”.“Helen and Adam were the love affair that will last forever. Their warmth, generosity and gift for making people feel welcome touched so many lives,” it said.Sharp was an artist and ceramics entrepreneur. Her father, Dudley Sharp, told The Palm Beach Post that the news had come as a devastating shock.“We had a daughter, her husband and two grandchildren on the plane,” he said.Reed and Fehr were described in the family statement as “full of joy and adventure”. Cetina, meanwhile, was said to have cared for the couple’s children with “tenderness and devotion”, adding that she was “truly part of the family”.The other two victims were the flight crew. Gregory, 55, was identified as the pilot by East Coast Jets, a private charter company where he had briefly worked in 2016 and 2017.Filgueiras, the 20-year-old co-pilot, was identified by her mother, Camila Corteleti, who confirmed her daughter’s death to US media. She obtained her pilot’s licence in 2023, when she was still a 17-year-old high school student in Florida.“She loved the freedom. It was completely different seeing the world from the top,” Corteleti told The New York Times.Her mother also described her as responsible and hardworking, while saying she was the co-pilot and could not make decisions about the flight.Investigators are yet to establish the precise roles played by the two pilots in the aircraft’s final moments or determine what caused the crash. Around 600 nearby residents were displaced following the accident, while one person on the ground suffered a leg injury.
