NTSB: Tail found 3.8 miles from crash site proves jet broke apart in air
Investigators confirmed the Learjet 60 disintegrated before impact in Greenacres, scattering debris far from the crater.
By Stella Brooks ·
Investigators recovered parts of the tail from the Learjet 60 that crashed in South Florida on Sunday, finding the fragments 3.8 miles from the impact site. National Transportation Safety Board member Tom Chapman announced the discovery during a news conference on Tuesday. The specific part recovered was the tail’s elevator, which Chapman said was broken into three separate pieces.
Chapman explained that the elevator controls the pitch of the aircraft, allowing the pilot to move the nose up or down. He noted that without an intact elevator, the pilot could not have pulled the jet out of its nose dive. While Chapman admitted the part might not have worked effectively even if it had remained attached due to high speeds, its absence provided critical evidence. The findings confirm the plane was breaking apart before it struck the ground.
The Learjet 60 departed from Austin, Texas, and was heading to the Bahamas when it encountered bad weather. The aircraft slammed into the ground in Greenacres, a location about 7 miles southwest of West Palm Beach. The impact created a crater and burst into flames, scattering fragments over a wide area. Six hundred nearby residents remain displaced, and one person on the ground was injured.
Minutes before the crash, co-pilot Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras reported to air traffic controllers that ice was accumulating on the plane. She also described severe turbulence that moved the aircraft up and down by more than 700 feet. In her final radio transmission, Filgueiras screamed, “We’re going to die!” before the jet hit the ground. Records show she had texted her boyfriend about 10 minutes earlier, warning him about the turbulence and ice.
Among the victims was pilot Jeff Gregory, a 55-year-old resident of Gilbertsville, Pennsylvania, about 35 miles northwest of Philadelphia. He held airline transport pilot and flight instructor certificates. A man’s voice reciting the Lord’s Prayer was heard in the background of the final radio transmissions, which friends believe was Gregory. He was a devout Christian and a former charter pilot for East Coast Jets, Inc.
The passengers included technology entrepreneur Adam Robinson, his wife Helen Sharp, and their two young children. Thomas Noetzel, the director of operations for Upper Jets, the company that operated the flight, started a GoFundMe to support Gregory’s wife and children. Noetzel’s father, Walter, posted on Facebook that Gregory was a devoted and faithful man. Walter wrote that he believes Gregory is now flying among the angels.
The NTSB plans to release a preliminary report on the crash in about one month. Officials expect the full investigation to take more than a year to determine the cause. Chapman said weather will be a key focus of the inquiry as the team continues to analyze the debris and flight data.
