Federal investigators have recovered part of an engine from the Learjet that crashed Sunday in Greenacres, Florida, killing all nine people aboard.
The National Transportation Safety Board said Thursday that crews began excavating the crash site Wednesday after utility workers drained standing water and removed other hazards. The Learjet 60 departed Austin-Bergstrom International Airport at about 10:37 a.m. Sunday, bound for North Eleuthera Airport in the Bahamas. Shortly before 1 p.m., it crashed in Palm Beach County, killing everyone on board.
Investigators found a section of one engine after excavation began. Officials also said wreckage had been discovered on the roofs of nearby homes and other buildings.
Earlier this week, investigators recovered the left tail elevator, a component that controls the aircraft’s pitch, in three pieces. One piece was found nearly four miles from the Learjet 60’s crash site.
Adam Robinson and his wife, Helen Sharp, were traveling with their two young children when the Learjet flying them from Texas to the Bahamas crashed in Palm Beach County, Florida, on Nov. 1. (Fox News)
National Transportation Safety Board member Thomas B. Chapman described the recovered part as a “very important piece of evidence” during a briefing with reporters Tuesday.
“Even small pieces of the wreckage may contain important evidence that could help investigators determine what happened,” the agency said in a social media post.
A Learjet 60 crashed into a South Florida neighborhood Sunday afternoon, erupting into a massive fireball about nine miles from Mar-a-Lago. (Aki Kuusisto via Storyful)
At an altitude of approximately 41,000 feet, an air traffic controller warned the flight crew that moderate precipitation was five miles ahead. The crew was told it could deviate left or right, while the controller cautioned that the turn toward Freeport in the Bahamas “looks pretty bad.”
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A map traces the Learjet’s route from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas toward the Bahamas before the aircraft crashed in Greenacres, Florida. (Fox News)
The crew was then instructed to continue toward a waypoint near Naples, Florida.
Not long afterward, following a deviation toward Palm Beach County, the pilots reported worsening weather. They told air traffic control they were encountering icing and turbulence and asked whether there was a “better ride” ahead.
Investigators examine the scene of a plane crash in Greenacres, Florida, on Monday, Nov. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Heavy rain and thunderstorms were moving across South Florida when the Learjet crashed. Federal investigators say weather conditions will be a central focus of the investigation.
Austin technology entrepreneur Adam Robinson, 45, died in the crash along with his wife, Helen Sharp, 40; their children, Emma, 4, and Charlie, 2; the children’s nanny, Anita Maria Cetina; and Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr.
Copilot Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, 20, left, and Capt. Jeffrey Scott Gregory, 55, right, were the pilots aboard the Learjet 60 that crashed in Palm Beach County, Florida, on Nov. 1, 2026. (Threads/@itsnatfilg; Facebook/JeffnCheryl Corbin-Gregory)
The Learjet was equipped with a cockpit voice recorder, but investigators have not located it and cannot yet confirm whether it was on board when the aircraft crashed, NTSB officials said.
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