NTSB: the Learjet That Crashed in Greenacres Shows Evidence of Breaking Up Before Impact, After Ice, Turbulence and an Overspeed Descent
Board Member Tom Chapman laid out the jet's final minute at Monday's West Palm Beach briefing: light clear ice and moderate turbulence at 35,000 feet, a climb clearance, then a descent, a mayday and an overspeed call - with debris spread over half a mile.
The Learjet 60 that crashed into a Greenacres neighborhood on Sunday, killing all nine people aboard, shows evidence of having begun to break up before it hit the ground, federal investigators said on Monday. 'We do have some evidence that there was some breakup of the aircraft before impact,' National Transportation Safety Board Member Tom Chapman said at the agency's first briefing in West Palm Beach, adding that investigators have not yet identified which parts may have separated. Debris is spread across an area roughly half a mile by four-tenths of a mile, near homes, businesses and recreational fields, investigator-in-charge Timothy Monville said.
Chapman laid out the flight's final minute. The jet, operated by Aurora Aviation, doing business as Upper Jets, as a Part 135 on-demand charter with two crew members and seven passengers, left Austin, Texas, at 10:37 a.m. Eastern on Sunday bound for North Eleuthera in the Bahamas. At about 12:47 p.m., cruising at 35,000 feet, the crew reported light clear ice and moderate turbulence that was moving the airplane up and down by about 700 feet, at an outside temperature of minus 47 degrees Celsius; the crew then reported picking up precipitation and was cleared to climb to 37,000 feet. Less than 30 seconds later the airplane reported descending, followed by a mayday, and at about 12:48 p.m. it transmitted that it was 'in an overspeed condition descending.'
About 20 investigators are working the case, Chapman said, and weather is a major focus: the board is examining whether the jet flew into a thunderstorm, and whether a turn toward Freeport was directed by controllers or by the crew. Maintenance records show a cockpit voice recorder was installed on the airplane, but 'what we don't know is whether that recorder was still on board,' Chapman said - its recovery could decide how much of the final minute investigators can reconstruct. The board also reported the first injury on the ground: a motorist near the site suffered a leg injury; no one on the ground was killed. Officials have still released none of the nine names, and this desk publishes no identification until officials do. A preliminary NTSB report is expected within weeks.
