Federal transportation safety officials examining the wreckage of a Learjet 60 that crashed into a Florida roadway on Sunday say the aircraft may have begun breaking apart midair before its fatal nosedive. The private jet, traveling from Austin, Texas, to the Bahamas, plummeted near West Palm Beach after encountering severe weather systems, leaving behind an impact crater and a widespread debris field.
The National Transportation Safety Board announced that investigators are evaluating whether ice accumulation, severe turbulence, mechanical malfunctions, or crew actions contributed to the disaster. NTSB member Tom Chapman told reporters that evidence indicates the aircraft began coming apart prior to impact, meaning portions of the airframe could be discovered at considerable distances from the main crash site.
Weather conditions during the flight are a central focus for investigators. Air traffic control recordings show the flight crew reported icing conditions at 35,000 feet with temperatures dropping to minus 47 degrees Celsius, alongside moderate turbulence and precipitation. The pilots requested clearance to climb to 37,000 feet to clear the weather after air traffic controllers warned them of approaching storms as the aircraft entered Florida airspace. AccuWeather noted that regional storm clouds reached heights of 45,000 feet, complicating efforts to fly above the weather systems.
As the aircraft crossed into Florida, it began losing altitude rapidly. Flight-tracking data and communications indicate the crew declared a mayday as the jet descended at 8,000 feet per minute, a rate that quickly accelerated to 20,000 feet per minute and eventually reached 27,000 feet per minute. In one of the final transmissions captured by air traffic control, the pilot reported being in an overspeed condition and stated they were going to crash into the ground.
Former NTSB and Federal Aviation Administration investigator Jeff Guzzetti suggested that the jet may have lost critical tail components during the turbulence or steep descent, potentially leaving the aircraft uncontrollable and explaining its missile-like trajectory before impact.
Recovery operations at the crash scene have been hampered by heavy rainfall, leaving the impact crater partially filled with water. NTSB investigator Timothy Monville noted that retrieving major wreckage from the crater will be a multi-day process, and investigators are working to recover the cockpit voice recorder to determine the final moments inside the flight deck.
The crash claimed the lives of all nine people on board, including technology entrepreneur Adam Robinson, his wife Helen Sharp, their young children Emma, 4, and Charlie, 2, and three additional passengers: Rachel Reed, Charmi Fehr, and Anita Maria Cetina, who cared for the couple’s children. Robinson founded companies including RB2B and Retention.com and previously worked at Lehman Brothers and Barclays. In a joint statement, relatives remembered Robinson and Sharp as devoted parents and described Cetina as a cherished member of the family.
The flight crew consisted of 55-year-old pilot Jeff Gregory and 20-year-old co-pilot Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras. Gregory was identified by East Coast Jets, a private charter company where he briefly worked between 2016 and 2017. Filgueiras obtained her pilot’s license in 2023 at age 17 while still a high school student in Florida. Her mother, Camila Corteleti, told reporters that her daughter was responsible and hardworking, noting that as co-pilot she did not make final operational decisions.
Investigators have not yet determined the specific actions of the flight crew during the descent or established a definitive cause for the tragedy. Beyond the fatalities on the aircraft, the accident displaced approximately 600 nearby residents and resulted in a leg injury to one person on the ground.
