Federal investigators are focusing on the weather encountered by a private jet and whether it began breaking apart before striking a residential area in Palm Beach County, Florida. The crash on Sunday killed all nine people aboard. The National Transportation Safety Board said Monday that the cause remains undetermined.
NTSB member Tom Chapman said investigators have preliminary indications that the Learjet 60 was breaking up before impact. He cautioned that the finding is not settled and said investigators may locate aircraft pieces away from the main impact site.
Weather is another central part of the inquiry. The crew reported icing and moderate turbulence at about 35,000 feet shortly before the crash. Chapman said investigators need to establish the conditions at that altitude, rather than rely on what the weather was like at ground level.
The NTSB’s preliminary account places the flight’s departure from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport at about 10:37 a.m. Sunday. The aircraft was headed to North Eleuthera in the Bahamas with two crew members and seven passengers aboard.
At about 12:47 p.m., while at 35,000 feet, the crew reported light clear ice that they described as manageable, along with moderate turbulence. The aircraft’s altitude varied by roughly 700 feet, according to the NTSB account. The crew reported an outside temperature of minus 47 degrees Celsius, equivalent to minus 53 degrees Fahrenheit, and requested clearance to climb to 37,000 feet after encountering precipitation.
Air traffic control approved the climb request. Less than 30 seconds later, the crew reported descending and made a mayday call at approximately 12:48 p.m. Chapman said the crew transmitted, “We are in an overspeed condition, descending.” The remainder of the message could not be understood, he said.
Later communications indicated the jet was losing altitude rapidly. It crashed near Cresthaven at about 12:50 p.m., according to the NTSB timeline. The nine people aboard died.
Investigators expect on-site work to take several days. Timothy Manville, the NTSB investigator-in-charge, identified recovering the main wreckage from a crater in the roadway as a significant challenge. The account also said dashcam footage captured the aircraft descending nose-first before a large fire erupted at the impact site.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis described the crash as “cataclysmic” on Sunday and said the aircraft appeared to be going down like a missile. Local officials said about 600 people were evacuated from a nearby mobile home community. The Federal Aviation Administration is assisting the NTSB investigation.
