The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the Learjet 60 crash that killed all nine people aboard a charter flight from Texas to the Bahamas, after the crew reported an “overspeed condition” and the jet fell from about 35,250 feet to 8,750 feet in a little over a minute, according to FAA data reported by ABC News. The jet went down on Military Trail near Greenacres in Palm Beach County, Florida, around 12:50 p.m. Nov. 1, according to NBC News.
The Latest From The NTSB
The NTSB sent a team of about 20 investigators to the crash site, led on scene by NTSB board member Tom Chapman. At a Nov. 3 briefing, Chapman said investigators had recovered most of the jet’s left elevator, the tail surface that controls the aircraft’s pitch, in three pieces between 1.3 and 3.8 miles from the impact site, the Associated Press reported. That finding confirms at least part of the tail separated before the jet hit the ground. Chapman said investigators don’t yet know whether the separation contributed to the crash or resulted from the forces of the descent.
Investigators said they will examine weather conditions as part of the probe, including the “light, clear ice” and moderate turbulence the crew reported, according to CBS12. Chapman said the NTSB will also look at what the crew and air traffic controllers knew, when they knew it and what actions they took.
No cause has been determined. Investigators were also working to determine whether the jet carried a cockpit voice recorder, AVweb reported.
What Happened During The Flight
The Learjet 60, a Part 135 charter flight operated by Aurora Aviation, doing business as Upper Jets, departed Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas at about 10:37 a.m. EST bound for North Eleuthera Airport in the Bahamas, according to the NTSB. The route took the aircraft across the Gulf and over South Florida.
Nine people were on board: two crew members and seven passengers. The crew included Capt. Jeff Gregory, 55, and co-pilot Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, 20. The passengers were Austin tech entrepreneur Adam Robinson; his wife, Helen Sharp, 40; their children Emma, 4, and Charlie, 2; the family’s nanny, Anita Maria Cetina; and family friends Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr, according to CBS12 and Flying magazine.
At about 12:47 p.m., while flying at 35,000 feet, the crew told air traffic controllers they were encountering light, clear ice and moderate turbulence, with an outside air temperature of minus 47 degrees Celsius, the NTSB said. “We’re managing the ice, but it is moderate turbulence,” the crew said in air traffic control audio published by LiveATC.net, according to CBS News. The crew asked to climb to get out of the precipitation.
Less than 30 seconds after receiving approval to climb, the crew declared an emergency. “722 Bravo Delta, we’re descending 8,000, mayday, mayday, we’re descending 10,000 feet per minute,” Filgueiras radioed, according to the Miami Herald. Seconds later, she reported, “We are in an overspeed condition descending 20,000 feet per minute.”
The crew later said, “We’re going to crash into the ground.” The final words heard on the recording were “We’re out of time.”
CBS News reported that the last data broadcast showed the jet at nearly 9,000 feet, nosediving at more than 32,000 feet per minute, or about 363 mph.
Case Background
Filgueiras, the 20-year-old co-pilot, earned her private pilot’s license at 17, before she had a driver’s license, and had been featured in a 2023 report by CBS affiliate WPEC about her aviation career, according to CBS News and CNN. Her family said she had logged more than 1,300 flight hours.
An eyewitness on the ground, Andrew Mannino, described the moment of impact to reporters. “I heard and felt the boom. The power immediately went out,” Mannino said, according to CNN. He said he smelled smoke and saw a large black cloud rise into the sky after the crash.
The jet struck near the entrance to a mobile home community and left a large crater in the road. One man in a vehicle near the site suffered a leg injury, Chapman said.
What Officials And Family Have Said
Dudley Sharp, the father of passenger Helen Sharp, spoke about the loss of his daughter’s family. “It’s quite a blow. We had a daughter, her husband and two grandchildren on the plane,” Sharp told the New York Post.
Chapman offered condolences to the victims’ families at the agency’s first briefing. “We are truly, truly sorry for your loss,” he said.
What’s Next
The NTSB said a preliminary report is expected about a month after the crash, while a final determination of probable cause will likely take more than a year, according to the Associated Press. The agency said future updates will be posted on its website and its account on X. Total Apex Entertainment will report additional confirmed developments in the investigation as officials release them.
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