NTSB: Key Aircraft Parts Found Three Miles From Florida Crash Site
The US National Transportation Safety Board says the left elevator of a crashed Learjet 60 was found three miles from the crash site in Florida. Investigators do not yet know whether losing it caused the plunge or whether it broke off because of forces on the aircraft.
The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which investigates aviation accidents, says important parts of a Learjet 60 have been found three miles from the crash site in Palm Beach, Florida. The jet, carrying seven passengers from Austin, Texas, to the Bahamas, nosedived into a multi-lane highway and exploded on impact. Everyone on board died.
NTSB official Chapman said that knowing the left elevator was lost is a very important piece of evidence that points investigators towards other things to examine. The elevator is the part that controls the plane's upward and downward movement. Officials are still working out whether losing it caused the nosedive or whether it separated because of forces acting on the aircraft. Chapman added that the part may not have been "effective" at the speed the plane was travelling.
Cockpit recordings
In air traffic control audio, someone in the cockpit reports "moderate turbulence" and says the crew was "managing the ice". The voice then says the plane was "picking up precipitation" and "we need to climb". Moments later, the same voice reports a descent of 10,000ft (3,048m) per minute. An emergency was declared, and the pilots can be heard yelling that they were in an overspeed condition, descending at 20,000ft per minute, before saying "we are going to crash into the ground".
The NTSB also plans to investigate the role weather played. Officials have struggled to reach the wreckage because the jet left a huge crater in the road. Chapman said on Tuesday that the force of the impact severely damaged the wreckage.
Victims
In a joint statement, the seven passengers were named as tech entrepreneur Adam Robinson, his wife Helen Sharp, and their two children, Emma, four, and Charlie, two, along with family friends Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr, and nanny Anita Maria Cetina. Media reports named the pilot as 55-year-old Jeffrey Gregory. Nathalia Filgueiras, 20, who earned her pilot's licence at 17, was reported to be the co-pilot.
