A major piece of the Learjet 60 that crashed in Florida came off the aircraft before it hit the ground, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has revealed.
NTSB Member Tom Chapman said at a briefing on Tuesday that investigators had found most of the jet’s left elevator in three pieces. They were located between 1.3 and 3.8 miles from the crash site in Greenacres, Palm Beach County.
“Those items are being retained for analysis,” Chapman said.
He explained that an elevator is located on the tail and controls the aircraft’s up-and-down pitch. The NTSB hasn’t said what caused the elevator to separate or whether it contributed to the crash.
What else did the NTSB say?
Chapman asked members of the public who come across anything that might be part of the wreckage not to touch or move it, and to contact local authorities or the NTSB instead.
He said the NTSB is working with the local public works team to remove water from the impact crater. That work was expected to begin on Wednesday, November 4.
He also said witnesses have already come forward with helpful information, including dashcam footage and multiple eyewitness accounts. “These will help us better understand the condition of the aircraft and circumstances of the crash,” he said.
The Transportation Disaster Assistance team is continuing to work with victims’ families and displaced local residents.
Chapman said Tuesday’s briefing was the final one on site, and any further updates would be posted on the NTSB website.
Popular theories online
As often happens after a high-profile disaster, the crash has attracted a wave of speculation online. The proximity to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, about eight miles away, and the dramatic footage of the jet’s plunge, which several witnesses compared to a missile, prompted some X users to claim that “bad actors” had used AI to hack the aircraft in an attempt to target the president.
Others pointed to the plane’s reported sharp turn before it went down. These claims are unfounded, and no evidence has been offered to support them. Trump was reportedly in Iowa for a midterm rally at the time, and investigators have so far pointed to icing, turbulence, and precipitation, while examining the left elevator, a tail part that separated before impact. The online rumors have even reached the aircraft’s crew, with at least one pilot forced to publicly deny that he was on board.
What do we know about the crash?
All nine people on board the business jet were killed when it crashed in a residential area of Greenacres on Sunday, November 1.
The pilot was Jeff Gregory, 55, and the co-pilot was Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, 20. The passengers were businessman Adam Robinson and his wife, ceramicist Helen Sharp, 40, along with their children Emma, four, and Charlie, two. Also on board were the family’s nanny, Anita Maria Cetina, and a couple, Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr.
The Learjet came down at about 12:50 PM ET. It had left Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas and was heading to North Eleuthera Airport in the Bahamas.
Minutes before the crash, the pilots reported ice building up on the jet, along with turbulence that was moving it up and down by as much as 700 feet. The aircraft is said to have plunged about 35,000 feet in just over a minute before bursting into flames.
Our thoughts are with all the family and friends who have been affected by this tragedy.
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