Details about investigation into fatal Florida Learjet 60 crash as officials release statement

Details into the investigation after a Learjet 60 plane crashed in Florida and killed all on board have been released. The aircraft had departed from Austin, Texas, and was heading to North Eleuthera in the Bahamas. The business jet crashed into a busy road in a residential neighbourhood near Cresthaven at about 12:50pm local time on Sunday. 

The crash killed all nine who had been on board, two pilots and seven passengers. Air traffic control audio from the crash has revealed that co-pilot Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras shared concerns. The pilot reported ice accumulating on the outside of the aircraft minutes before the crash, with an outside air temperature of -47 degrees Celsius. She had also texted her boyfriend just 10 minutes before the impact. 

Scattered storms had been passing through the area at the time of the crash. The cause of the incident remains unknown at this time, but more details into the investigation have been shared. 

via Matias J Ocner/TNS via ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

The plane began to break up before impact

Investigators are now working to determine what caused the aircraft to crash. About 20 investigators were reported to be at the scene on Sunday, and more have arrived since.

The plane had requested to climb to around 37,000 feet to avoid bad weather, when the pilots reported icing and turbulence before it suddenly plunged toward the ground.

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The plane began to break up before impact, and the crater at the crash point soon filled with rain water, and now reportedly there are concerns over whether this may affect the investigation. 

“We do have some indication the aircraft was breaking up before impact,” National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) spokesperson Thomas B Chapman said. “We may find parts of the aircraft some distance away from the actual impact site.” He added: “The biggest obstacle that we’re going to have is recovering the major wreckage from the impacted crater on the roadway.”

It’s not clear if there was a blackbox recorder on the plane, or if any of it has survived the crash. The NTSB said weather conditions would be a major focus of the investigation, but said it was struggling to access the wreckage due to the huge crater created by the jet on the road in Palm Beach.

NTSB has released a statement 

NTSB released a statement to say it is currently investigating what happened. It said: “We have launched a go team to investigate the crash of a Learjet 60 operated by Aurora Aviation dba Upper Jet. The flight was lost from radar and radio contact while en route from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS), Austin, Texas to North Eleuthera Airport (MYEH), North Eleuthera, Bahamas.”

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