Investigators have recovered the tail section of a Learjet that plunged into a Florida street, finding the wreckage several miles from the main crash site.
The private jet, flown by veteran pilot Jeff Gregory, crashed in Greenacres, near West Palm Beach, on Sunday after travelling at close to supersonic speed.
The aircraft struck the ground with such force that it left a crater before erupting into flames. The impact scattered debris across a wide area.
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) member Tom Chapman said at a press briefing Tuesday that investigators had found part of the aircraft’s tail elevator between 1.3 and 3.8 miles from the crater.
Chapman said officials believe several significant components began separating from the Learjet before it hit the ground.
Investigators have yet to establish whether the separation triggered the crash or resulted from the intense strain placed on the aircraft during its descent.
The deadly crash occurred about eight miles from President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago country club. However, officials said it was unrelated to the no-fly zone hastily established by the US Secret Service.
For the past week, aircraft have been diverted away from the Mar-a-Lago estate while the Secret Service operates under what it has described as a “heightened threat environment.”
A Learjet 60 plunged into an intersection in Greenacres, Florida, near West Palm Beach, on Sunday and burst into flames
Disturbing dashcam footage captured a fireball erupting as the plane slammed into the road at a speed some experts described as near-supersonic
NTSB member Tom Chapman said at a Tuesday press conference that investigators had recovered part of the plane’s tail elevator between 1.3 and 3.8 miles from the crater
Military and air defense systems were positioned around Mar-a-Lago and nearby President Donald J Trump International Airport, formerly called Palm Beach International Airport, in late October at the Secret Service’s request.
Since then, jets leaving the international airport eastbound have been making sharp turns to the north rather than flying directly over the Atlantic Ocean.
Officials have not revealed why the defense systems were deployed. Chapman confirmed Tuesday, however, that investigators had found no evidence linking them to the Learjet crash.
He called the timing of the crash and the active no-fly zone “entirely coincidental.”
NTSB officials have previously identified severe weather as a “significant factor” in the disaster, making conditions at the time of the flight a central focus of the investigation.
Tech entrepreneur Adam Robinson, 45, and his wife, ceramicist Helen Sharp, 40, were aboard the jet with their children, Emma, four, and Charlie, two, when it plunged from the sky at 20,000 feet per minute on Sunday afternoon.
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The family had been flying from their home in Austin, Texas, to the Bahamas to celebrate Robinson’s birthday when the tragedy occurred.
Robinson’s friends Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr, along with the children’s nanny, Anita Maria Cetina, were also on board.
The crash carved a huge crater into the middle of the road and damaged nearby infrastructure
Jeffrey Gregory, 55, of Gilbertsville, Pennsylvania, was piloting a Learjet 60 when it nosedived into a road near West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday afternoon. He is pictured with his wife Cheryl. Source: JeffnCheryl Corbin-Gregory/Facebook
Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, 20, was co-piloting the Learjet 60 and could be heard in distressing audio warning air traffic control that the aircraft was coming down
Before the crash, Gregory’s co-pilot, 20-year-old Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, told air traffic controllers that ice was accumulating on the plane and that severe turbulence had thrown it up and down by more than 700 feet.
Filgueiras was describing how the aircraft had banked 60 degrees, meaning it was flying sideways, and she was noting the altitude changes.
‘We’re going to die!’ she said with a scream before the jet slammed into the ground and erupted in a fireball, her final radio transmissions to air traffic control revealed.
As the plane plunged, Gregory, described by friends as a devout Christian, could be heard reciting the Lord’s Prayer in the background.
At a press conference on Monday, NTSB officials said the pilots requested to gain 2,000 feet of elevation when they encountered a thunderstorm, moments before the aircraft spiraled to the ground.
Some aviation experts have speculated that the plane may have hit what pilots call ‘coffin corner’ while trying to climb above two storm systems.
The term describes the very narrow gap between safe minimum speeds and safe maximum speeds while flying at high altitude. If a pilot goes too slow or too fast, they can easily stall the plane or lose control.
Adam Robinson, 45, and his wife Helen Sharp, 40, were aboard a Learjet 60 alongside their toddlers Emma, four, and Charlie, two, when it crashed in Greenacres, Florida on Sunday
Robinson’s friends Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr, (left) and the children’s nanny, Anita Maria Cetina, (right) were also on the flight
Gregory, 55, held airline transport pilot and flight instructor certificates, according to Federal Aviation Administration records.
He lived in Gilbertsville, about 35 miles northwest of Philadelphia, and had previously worked for a charter company based in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
A preliminary report describing what happened will be released in about a month, but it will likely take more than a year to determine the cause of the crash.
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