The tail of the doomed Learjet that nosedived into a Florida street was recovered miles away from the crash site, investigators revealed.
The private jet, piloted by longtime aviator Jeff Gregory, crashed in Greenacres, near West Palm Beach, on Sunday while travelling at near-supersonic speed.
It hit the ground with enough force to create a crater before bursting into flames, with the impact scattering plane fragments over a large area.
Federal investigators have since located part of the plane's tail elevator about 1.3 to 3.8 miles away from the crater, National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) member Tom Chapman said during a press briefing Tuesday.
Officials believe that several important pieces of the jet started to break off from the aircraft before it struck the ground, Chapman said.
Investigators have not yet determined if the part separation caused the crash, or if the separation was caused by strain on the aircraft as it nosedived.
The fiery crash occurred just eight miles from President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago country club but is not connected to the no-fly zone that was hastily imposed by the US Secret Service.
For the past week, air traffic has been rerouted away from Mar-a-Lago estate as the Secret Service operates under a 'heightened threat environment.'
A Learjet 60 nosedived into an intersection in Greenacres, Florida, near West Palm Beach, on Sunday before bursting into flames
Disturbing dashcam footage of the incident, showed how a fireball erupted after the plane hit the road at what some experts said was a near-supersonic speed
National Transportation Safety Board member Tom Chapman said during a press conference Tuesday that investigators have since located part of the plane's tail elevator about 1.3 to 3.8 miles away from the crater
Military and air defense systems were deployed around Mar-a-Lago and nearby President Donald J Trump International Airport, formerly known as Palm Beach International Airport, in late October at the request of the Secret Service.
All jets departing eastbound from the international airport have now been banking sharply to the north instead of flying straight out over the Atlantic.
Officials have not disclosed a specific reason for the defense system's deployment, but Chapman on Tuesday confirmed there is no evidence connecting the Learjet crash to the system.
He described it as 'entirely coincidental' that the plane crashed while the no-fly zone was in effect.
NTSB officials previously said they believe severe weather was a 'significant factor' in the disaster and would be a key focus of their investigation.
Tech tycoon Adam Robinson, 45, and his ceramicist wife Helen Sharp, 40, were aboard the jet with their children, Emma, four, and Charlie, two, when it tumbled out of the sky at 20,000 feet per minute on Sunday afternoon.
The family of four was traveling from their home in Austin, Texas, to the Bahamas for Robinson's birthday when the tragedy occurred.
Robinson's friends Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr, and the children's nanny, Anita Maria Cetina, were also on the flight.
The impact left a massive crater in the middle of the road, damaging 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
Read More
Minute by minute of private jet plunge revealed: Watch the full flight from hell
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, 55, 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 children 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 held airline transport pilot and flight instructor certificates, according to Federal Aviation Administration records.
He lived in Gilbertsville, about 35 miles north-west 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.
Source link
