Learjet tail parts found 3.8 miles from Florida crash site
NTSB officials confirmed the left elevator broke into three pieces, offering a key clue in the investigation of the fatal crash.
By Rebecca Foster ·
Investigators recovered three fragments of the Learjet's left elevator between 1.3 miles and 3.8 miles from the crash site in Greenacres, Florida.
National Transportation Safety Board member Tom Chapman announced the finding on Tuesday. The debris confirms that the tail component separated from the airframe before it struck the ground. Chapman noted that the elevator controls the plane's pitch. Without it, the pilot could not have raised the nose to stop the descent.
Chapman said the team is still determining whether the loss caused the loss of control or resulted from the forces during the nosedive. He described the discovery as a critical piece of evidence for the ongoing probe. The jet crashed on Sunday afternoon, killing all nine people aboard.
Aviation safety expert Jeff Guzzetti told The Associated Press that the parts likely broke off near the ground. He reasoned that if the elevator had detached at high altitude, the pieces would have traveled much farther. The crash created a crater and killed Adam Robinson, his wife Helen Sharp, and their two young children. The flight originated in Austin, Texas, and was heading to the Bahamas.
Jeff Gregory, 55, served as a pilot on the flight. Friends believe a man's voice reciting the Lord's Prayer was heard in the background of the co-pilot's final radio transmission. Thomas Noetzel, director of operations at Upper Jets, started a fundraiser to support Gregory's family. Noetzel called Gregory a close friend on the GoFundMe page. Walter Noetzel posted on Facebook that Jeff was a devoted and faithful man.
Co-pilot Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras reported turbulence and ice to her boyfriend about 10 minutes before impact. In the final two minutes of the flight, her radio calls grew urgent. She told air traffic controllers that ice was accumulating on the plane. She reported vertical movements of more than 700 feet. The jet descended at a rate of 20,000 feet per minute. Her final words before the signal cut out were, "We're out of time!"
About 600 residents remain displaced from their homes near the impact zone. Only one person on the ground sustained injuries. Investigators have been collecting dashcam video and speaking with witnesses since the crash. They plan to access the crater on Wednesday after heavy rain subsided. Chapman said weather remains a focus of the investigation.
The NTSB expects to release a preliminary report within a month. A full determination of the probable cause will likely take more than a year. The agency continues to scour the area for remaining components.
