NTSB Briefing Set for Monday in West Palm Beach as Learjet Investigators Arrive Sunday and Monday
The safety board's go-team reaches the Greenacres crash site Sunday and Monday morning, with a media briefing planned in West Palm Beach on Monday — and, officials stress, no cause and no names released yet.
WEST PALM BEACH — The National Transportation Safety Board will hold a media briefing in West Palm Beach on Monday on the Learjet 60 crash that killed all nine people aboard on Sunday, the board said, with the briefing's time and location still to be announced. The NTSB is launching a go-team to Palm Beach County, with investigators arriving at the site Sunday and Monday morning; the board leads the investigation, with the Federal Aviation Administration supporting it.
The jet crashed at about 12:50 p.m. Sunday in a residential area near Cresthaven, in the Greenacres area, on a flight from Austin, Texas, to North Eleuthera in the Bahamas, the FAA said. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed that all nine people aboard were killed; officials reported no one on the ground killed or injured, and about 600 residents of a nearby mobile home community are being relocated while the investigation continues. CNN, citing NTSB records, reported the crash is the second-deadliest in the United States this year, and the worst involving a Learjet 60 in Flight Safety Foundation data.
What investigators have not said matters as much as what they have: the cause is unknown, the NTSB has released no findings, and the nine people aboard have not been publicly identified — officials have not said how many were passengers and how many were crew. The board typically issues a preliminary report within about 30 days, with a final probable-cause report far later. Monday on the ground, John I. Leonard High School stays closed beside the crash site and Military Trail remains shut at the scene while the go-team works.
