Learjet tail part found near crash site

Residents of Greenacres, near West Palm Beach, learned Tuesday that investigators recovered a major section of the aircraft that crashed on Sunday. National Transportation Safety Board member Tom Chapman announced that most of the left elevator was found in three separate pieces. The debris was located between 1.3 miles and 3.8 miles from the impact zone. This distance confirms that the jet began to disintegrate before it struck the ground.

The left elevator is part of the tail assembly that controls the plane's pitch. Chapman stated that without this component intact, the pilot could not have pulled the Learjet 60 out of its nosedive. He noted that the loss of the elevator is a critical piece of evidence, even if it was not the initial cause of the loss of control. The discovery helps guide the investigation toward specific mechanical or aerodynamic failures.

Aviation safety expert Jeff Guzzetti told The Associated Press that the broken pieces likely separated from the plane during the descent rather than at high altitude. If the parts had detached while the jet was still high in the air, wind would have carried them much farther. Their proximity to the crash site suggests they fell off closer to the ground. This timing aligns with the severe turbulence and ice accumulation reported by the crew.

The crash killed all nine people aboard the aircraft, which originated in Austin, Texas. Among the victims was technology entrepreneur Adam Robinson, his wife Helen Sharp, and their two young children. The two crew members in the cockpit included Jeff Gregory, 55, who lived in the Philadelphia suburbs, and co-pilot Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras. Gregory was a longtime aviator and a devout Christian. During the descent, a man's voice was heard reciting the Lord's Prayer over the radio, a detail friends believe was Gregory.

Filgueiras communicated with air traffic control in the final two minutes of the flight. She reported that ice was accumulating on the aircraft and that turbulence had moved the plane up and down by more than 700 feet. The jet descended at a rate of more than 20,000 feet per minute. In her final transmission, she stated, "We're going to crash into the ground," before saying, "We're out of time!" The plane created a crater upon impact and burst into flames. About 600 nearby residents remain displaced, and one person on the ground was reported injured. Investigators plan to access the crater on Wednesday to recover further components.