Learjet was 'breaking up' before Florida plane crash killed 9 including young pilot

Learjet was 'breaking up' before Florida plane crash killed 9 including young pilot The Learjet which crashed in Florida on Sunday, killing all nine people on board, appears to have been breaking up before the impact, according to investigators Parts of the Learjet appear to have broken off before it crashed in Florida and erupted into a ball of flames, killing all nine people on board. Video recorded by passersby captured the terrifying moment on Sunday afternoon when the Bahamas-bound aircraft plunged from the sky before slamming into the ground and exploding in Greenacres, about seven miles southwest of West Palm Beach. "Debris was everywhere. Debris hit my house. Everything was on fire. The road was on fire," Anthony Blackmon, who lives near the crash site, told NBC affiliate WTVJ. "I've always seen it on the news, never thought it would happen so close to somebody like how it happened today." National Transportation Safety Board member Tom Chapman said during a news conference today that the aircraft appeared to start breaking up before it made impact. He expects parts of the plane will be found far away. "We do have some indication that the aircraft was breaking up before impact," Chapman said. "We may find parts of the aircraft some distance away from the actual impact site." Palm Beach County Commissioner Joel G. Flores said the county "doesn't have a clue" when residents living around the crash site will be able to return to home. There were around 77 mobile homes in the area and residents have been evacuated to a shelter, Flores said. "Our concern right now is clearing the scene so that our residents can get back to normal," Flores said. "We don't really have a timeline as to when they are going to be able to comb through all the evidence and do everything they need to do, and that leaves our community looking for answers. The Learjet 60 began its journey at the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas. Airport spokesperson Jim Reynolds described it as a private aircraft. Camila Corteleti told the New York Post and New York Times that her daughter, 20-year-old Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, was one of the pilots. She earned her pilot's licence in 2023 while a 17-year-old senior at West Boca Raton Community High School in Florida. Her pilot's licence showed she had the rating to fly that model of Learjet but not to be in command of the flight. Palm Beach County Mayor Sara Baxter asked for sympathy for the crash victims. "Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers," she said. The plane was heading east at 35,000ft when the pilot started to report problems. The pilot said ice was accumulating on the jet and that turbulence was jolting it by as much as 700ft, according to air traffic control recordings captured by LiveATC.net. Rain pounded the region on Sunday. "We have light, clear ice that is manageable and moderate turbulence," the pilot told controllers. The situation then rapidly deteriorated. The pilot requested permission to climb another 2,000ft and then quickly declared an emergency as the jet lost altitude at an alarming rate. "We're descending 8,000 - mayday, mayday - we're descending 10,000ft per minute," the pilot radioed. "We are in an overspeed condition descending 20,000ft per minute." Moments later, the pilot said: "We're going to crash into the ground." Video shows the plane banking sharply to the right before crashing and exploding.