NTSB Investigation Begins in Earnest at the Greenacres Learjet Crash Site, as Families Say a Couple and Two Toddlers Were Among the Nine Killed
Federal specialists fanned out Monday at Military Trail and Cresthaven Boulevard, where the Austin-to-Bahamas jet fell Sunday at 12:50 p.m. Authorities have still released no names, and families are only beginning to speak.
The federal investigation into Sunday's Learjet crash in Greenacres began in earnest on Monday, with a National Transportation Safety Board team of specialists gathering evidence at the busy crossroad of Military Trail and Cresthaven Boulevard, the Palm Beach Post reported in its live file. The Learjet 60, bound from Austin, Texas, to the Bahamas, crashed at about 12:50 p.m., exploding into a fireball when it hit the ground. Gov. Ron DeSantis said it fell 'like a missile' from the sky, and the crash sent debris over a wide area. The NTSB, which is leading the investigation with FAA support, planned a news conference in West Palm Beach.
Families, meanwhile, gave the first shape to the loss. A married couple and two toddlers were among the nine people killed, the fathers of both the husband and the wife confirmed in brief interviews with the Post on Monday. The Post is not disclosing their names, as authorities have not yet notified the families of their deaths, and as of Monday morning authorities had released no identifications of the nine at all. 'It's quite a blow,' one father, a 70-year-old in Texas, told the Post. 'We had a daughter, her husband and two grandchildren on the plane.' This desk is publishing no victim name until officials release identifications.
What happened in the sky above Palm Beach County is also coming into focus. Experts who reviewed flight data and radar say the jet flew into a fast-growing thunderstorm: meteorologist Matthew Cappucci said the storm's clouds shot up 15,000 feet in 20 minutes and reached 48,300 feet tall by the time of the crash, and that at 12:48 p.m. the first officer asked to climb from 35,000 feet to 37,000 feet, citing more precipitation - about 20 seconds before the mayday call. The crash took place on a stormy day across South Florida, with thunderstorms across the peninsula near Lake Okeechobee and winds from the east at 15 mph gusting to 25 mph. DeSantis said there had been no reports of anyone on the ground either killed or injured by the debris.
