Federal investigators said Monday that the weather encountered by a private jet at cruising altitude is a central line of inquiry after the aircraft crashed in South Florida, killing all nine people aboard.
Tom Chapman, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board, said preliminary evidence suggests the Learjet 60 may have begun breaking apart before striking a neighborhood in Palm Beach County on Sunday afternoon.
“We do have some indication that the aircraft was breaking up before impact,” Chapman told reporters at a Monday news conference. He said investigators could locate aircraft fragments some distance from the main crash site as the examination continues.
Police work near the scene of a plane crash in Greenacres, Fla., Monday, Nov. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Investigators are focusing on conditions around 35,000 feet, where the crew reported icing and moderate turbulence shortly before the jet went down, Chapman said.
“The weather conditions are a major focus of the investigation,” Chapman said. “You all saw what the weather was like here at the surface. What we have to determine is what the weather conditions were like at altitude.”
The Learjet left Austin-Bergstrom International Airport at about 10:37 a.m. Sunday, headed for North Eleuthera in the Bahamas. Two crew members and seven passengers were on board, according to the NTSB.
At roughly 12:47 p.m., the pilots reported light clear ice and moderate turbulence that they described as manageable. The aircraft was fluctuating by about 700 feet while flying at 35,000 feet.
The crew reported an outside temperature of minus 47 degrees Celsius, or minus 53 degrees Fahrenheit. After encountering precipitation, they asked air traffic control for clearance to climb to 37,000 feet.
Flames rise following an aircraft incident in Palm Beach County, Florida. (Eduin Cruz/via REUTERS)
Controllers approved the climb request. Less than 30 seconds later, however, the crew said the aircraft was descending and transmitted a mayday call at approximately 12:48 p.m.
“We are in an overspeed condition, descending,” the crew reported, according to Chapman. He said the rest of the transmission could not be understood.
Further radio communications showed the jet losing altitude rapidly before it slammed into a residential area near Cresthaven, Florida, at about 12:50 p.m. All nine people aboard died.
Timothy Manville, the NTSB investigator leading the inquiry, said crews will remain at the scene for several days. Recovering wreckage from a crater in the roadway is expected to be one of the operation’s most difficult tasks.
“The biggest obstacle that we’re going to have is recovering the major wreckage from the impacted crater on the roadway,” Manville said.
Dashcam video showed the jet diving nose-first into the neighborhood before bursting into a massive fireball, as News Media previously reported.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis called the crash “cataclysmic” on Sunday. He said the plane appeared to be “like a missile going down” and created a large crater beside the road.
Local officials evacuated about 600 residents from a nearby mobile home community after the crash.
The Federal Aviation Administration is supporting the NTSB’s investigation. Officials have not yet determined what caused the crash.