NTSB Says Learjet That Crashed in Greenacres Showed Signs of Breaking Up Before Impact

Since a Learjet 60 bound for the Bahamas crashed in Greenacres on Sunday, Nov. 1, killing all nine people aboard, the National Transportation Safety Board has moved from confirming the basics to saying the aircraft may have come apart in the air.

NTSB member Tom Chapman said at a news conference in West Palm Beach today, Nov. 2, that investigators have evidence the plane was breaking up before impact.

"We do have some indication that the aircraft was breaking up before impact," Chapman said. "We may find parts of the aircraft some distance away from the actual impact site."

The cause is still undetermined.

What the flight data and radio calls show

The jet left Austin-Bergstrom International Airport around 10:37 a.m. Sunday, headed for North Eleuthera in the Bahamas, with two crew and seven passengers, according to the NTSB.

At about 12:47 p.m., the crew reported light clear ice and moderate turbulence at 35,000 feet. Chapman said altitude deviations were roughly 700 feet. The crew gave an outside temperature of minus 47°C (minus 53°F) and then reported picking up precipitation.

The crew asked to climb to 37,000 feet. Air traffic control approved the request.

Less than 30 seconds later, the crew reported descending. A mayday call came around 12:48 p.m. Chapman said the crew transmitted, "We are in an overspeed condition, descending," and the rest of that message was unintelligible.

In air traffic control audio, a woman aboard says the jet is descending at 10,000 feet per minute, then 20,000, and says, "We're gonna crash into the ground." The jet hit the ground at about 12:50 p.m. near the Cresthaven neighborhood, roughly 7 miles southwest of West Palm Beach.

The Guardian, citing air traffic control recordings and flight tracking data, reported the descent rate reached as high as 30,000 feet per minute and pushed the aircraft past its design limits. The NTSB has not confirmed those figures.

Weather is the main line of inquiry

Chapman called weather "a major focus of the investigation." He drew a distinction between what people saw on the ground and what the crew flew through.

"You all saw what the weather was like here at the surface," he said. "What we have to determine is what the weather conditions were like at altitude."

A line of thunderstorms moved through South Florida on Sunday. An aviation expert told WPEC that a jet flying into the tops of a storm could be damaged. The NTSB has not said whether that happened here.

Recovery is slowed by water in the crater

The impact left a large crater in a roadway. Chapman said water in the crater complicates access to records and wreckage.

He said maintenance records show a cockpit voice recorder was installed on the aircraft. Investigators have not yet confirmed whether it was aboard on Sunday, according to Floridian Press's account of the briefing.

Survivors of the crash do not exist, and the wreckage is the main evidence. Parts found at a distance from the crater would be the physical confirmation of an in-flight breakup.

Victims and the neighborhood

Authorities have not released the names of the dead. The family of the co-pilot has identified her as Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, 20.

Her mother, Camila Corteleti, spoke to the New York Post and New York Times. Her sister, Giulia Filgueiras, said Nathalia learned to fly from their father, a pilot. "Flying was her biggest passion," Giulia said.

She earned her pilot's license in 2023 as a 17-year-old senior at West Boca Raton Community High School, local news reports said at the time.

On the ground, Palm Beach County Commissioner Joel G. Flores said about 77 mobile homes near the site were evacuated and residents are in a shelter. He said the county "doesn't have a clue" when they can return.

"We don't really have a timeline as to when they are going to be able to comb through all the evidence and do everything they need to do," Flores said.

Resident Anthony Blackmon told NBC affiliate WTVJ that debris hit his house and the road was on fire. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said at the scene that the crash "looked like a missile going down."

The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office declined to discuss its death investigation, saying it is in early stages. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the Federal Aviation Administration is sending a team to support the NTSB.

What comes next

The NTSB has not given a date for a preliminary report. The immediate questions are whether searchers find wreckage away from the crater, whether the voice recorder was aboard, and what the atmosphere looked like at 35,000 feet. Those answers will decide whether weather, a structural failure, or both brought the Learjet down.