The NTSB Says the Learjet Began Breaking Up Before It Hit the Ground — and Its Final Minute Ran From an Ice Report to a Mayday in Under 30 Seconds
Federal investigators told reporters in West Palm Beach on Monday that there is evidence the Learjet 60 that crashed near Greenacres on Sunday began breaking up before impact. The crew reported light ice and moderate turbulence at 35,000 feet at 12:47 p.m., was cleared to climb — and within 30 seconds reported descending, called mayday, and transmitted that it was in an overspeed descent. All nine aboard were killed; the cockpit voice recorder's presence on the aircraft is still unknown.
The Learjet that fell into a Palm Beach County neighborhood on Sunday began coming apart in the air. "We do have evidence that there was some breakup of the aircraft before impact," National Transportation Safety Board member Thomas Chapman said at the agency's first media briefing in West Palm Beach on Monday, though investigators have not yet identified which parts separated or why, and they cautioned that pieces of the aircraft may be found some distance from the impact site — anyone who finds debris is asked not to touch or move it and to contact authorities. The debris field itself measures about half a mile by four-tenths of a mile, investigator Timothy Monville said; the crash sparked multiple fires, forced about 600 people from their homes, killed all nine people aboard, and injured a man on the ground, who suffered a leg injury, officials said Monday.
Chapman laid out the flight's final minute. The Learjet 60, operated by Aurora Aviation, doing business as Upper Jets, left Austin at 10:37 a.m. Sunday for North Eleuthera in the Bahamas with two crew members and seven passengers. At about 12:47 p.m., cruising at 35,000 feet, the crew told controllers they were picking up light, clear ice and were in moderate turbulence, moving up and down by about 700 feet, with an outside temperature of minus 47 degrees Celsius — and that the ice was manageable. After reporting precipitation, they were cleared to climb to 37,000 feet. Less than 30 seconds later, the aircraft reported it was descending, a mayday followed, and at about 12:48 p.m. a transmission said the jet was "in an overspeed condition descending." The rest was unintelligible.
What investigators do not yet have is the recording that could explain that minute. Maintenance records indicate a cockpit voice recorder was installed on the aircraft at some point, Chapman said, but whether it was still aboard at the crash is not known. "We're very hopeful that we can recover it," he said, adding that investigators will be better off if the device is found. The Palm Beach County Medical Examiner's Office said Monday it had not yet identified the nine people who died. The NTSB named no cause on Monday — weather, including the ice and turbulence the crew reported, is one focus among several, and the board's work at the site continues.
