Crucial plane control parts from a Learjet 60 were found as far as 3.8 miles from the site of a fatal Florida crash, investigators said Tuesday. The National Transportation Safety Board said the pieces may have separated before the aircraft struck a Palm Beach road Sunday, killing all nine people aboard.
The recovered parts include most of the jet’s left elevator, a tail control surface that moves the nose up and down. NTSB board member Tom Chapman said investigators found it in three pieces. He described the part as important evidence that could guide the next stages of the inquiry.
Chapman said the pieces were found between 1.3 (2 km) and 3.8 miles from the crash site. Their distance led investigators to determine that they fell from the aircraft before impact, he said. The team is still examining whether losing the elevator caused the plane to descend sharply or whether forces on the aircraft caused the part to separate.
Crucial Plane Control Evidence Raises New Questions
Investigators have not established the elevator’s role in the crash. Chapman said the control surface may not have been effective at the speed the plane was traveling. He also said officials are considering whether the part came off before impact or separated because of forces acting on the aircraft.
“Knowing that it was lost is a very important piece of evidence in terms of pointing us towards other things to investigate,” Chapman said. The NTSB has not yet said what caused the Learjet to nosedive.
The jet was traveling to the Bahamas from Austin, Texas, when it went down onto a multi-lane highway and exploded on impact. Audio recordings from air traffic control captured a cockpit voice reporting “moderate turbulence” and saying the crew was “managing the ice.” The voice then reported that the aircraft was “picking up precipitation” and that “we need to climb.”
Moments later, the same voice said the plane was descending at 10,000ft (3,048m) per minute. The pilots declared an emergency and were heard saying they were in an “overspeed condition descending 20,000ft per minute.” They then said, “we are going to crash into the ground.”
Weather and Wreckage Remain Under Investigation
The NTSB plans to investigate the role weather played in the crash. Officials have also faced difficulty reaching wreckage because the jet left a huge crater in a Palm Beach road. Chapman said Tuesday that the force of impact severely damaged the wreckage.
Seven passengers were named in a joint statement: tech entrepreneur Adam Robinson, his wife Helen Sharp, their children Emma, four, and Charlie, two, family friends Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr, and nanny Anita Maria Cetina. Media reports identified the pilot as 55-year-old Jeffrey Gregory. The co-pilot was reported to be Nathalia Filgueiras, 20, who earned her pilot’s licence when she was 17.
The separated crucial plane control parts and damaged wreckage remain central to an inquiry that has not yet established a cause.
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