Investigators examining the South Florida Learjet crash that killed nine people have recovered part of the aircraft’s tail more than a mile from the main impact crater.
National Transportation Safety Board member Tom Chapman announced Tuesday that the discovery confirms the plane was breaking apart before hitting the ground. The tail’s elevator was broken into three pieces, meaning the pilot would have been unable to pull the aircraft out of its nose dive.
Minutes before the crash, co-pilot Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras radioed air traffic controllers to report severe turbulence and ice accumulating on the plane, screaming “We’re going to die!” just before the jet slammed into the ground.
The flight, bound for the Bahamas, took off from Austin, Texas. Among the victims were tech entrepreneur Adam Robinson, his wife Helen Sharp, and their two young children, alongside pilot Jeff Gregory and Filgueiras.
The NTSB stated that weather will remain a key focus of the investigation, with a preliminary report expected in about a month, though determining the final cause of the crash could take over a year.
