Horror Florida Learjet crash theory emerges as investigators issue major update

Horror Florida Learjet crash theory emerges as investigators issue major update Investigators have said weather conditions will be a major focus of their probe into the cause of crash, which left nine dead including a family with two young children Horror details have emerged of what is likely to have happened when a private jet plunged to the ground at high speed in Florida before crashing in a fireball, killing all nine people on board. The Learjet 60 was travelling from Austin, Texas, to the Bahamas when it crashed into a residential area in Greenacres, Palm Beach County, on Sunday. Multi-millionaire tech entrepreneur Adam Robinson, 44, his wife Helen Sharp, 40, their two children Emma, four, and Charlie, two, were on board the doomed jet, as well as their nanny, Anita Maria Cetina, and two family friends Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr. The pilot, identified as 55-year-old Jeff Gregory from Pennsylvania, and 20-year-old co-pilot Nathalia Gadelha, were also killed. In an update, investigators have now said the plane likely started breaking apart before it slammed into the ground and exploded, leaving a massive crater near the entrance to a mobile home park. The public were warned that debris from the aircraft could have spread far and wide. "We may find parts of the aircraft some distance away from the actual impact site," National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) member Tom Chapman explained during a news conference on Monday. Jeff Guzzetti, a former investigator for the NTSB and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), said key components of the jet's tail may have been lost during the turbulence or as it nosedived, making the plane impossible to control. "That very well could explain the missile-like profile just before it hit the ground," he said. Weather conditions will be a major focus of the NTSB probe into the crash, which came after the jet flew through a severe storm. Rain pounded Palm Beach County on Sunday with one of the pilots telling air traffic control about icy conditions the plane was facing at high altitude. In a harrowing call to air traffic control, co-pilot Nathalia Gadelha, 20, was heard pleading for help. "We're descending 8,000 – mayday, mayday – we're descending 10,000ft per minute," she said. Mr Gregory could then be heard reciting the Lord's Prayer, as the Nathalia screamed "we're going to crash into the ground" and "holy **** we're out of time", before the audio from the Learjet went silent. The NTSB said they will also examine the actions of the crew and look for any mechanical problems with the plane. The pilots were warned by controllers about the looming storms as they crossed into Florida, and the FAA had published an official warning about the weather earlier in the day. Mr Chapman said investigators still have to determine what the weather conditions were at 35,000 feet (11,000 meters), the altitude the plane was flying at when the pilot started reporting problems. Retired airline pilot John Cox, now CEO of the Safety Operating Systems consulting business, said the conditions the pilot described on the radio - significant turbulence as well as "liquid precipitation freezing on the plane at negative -47C" - would have terrified him. He said precipitation at that altitude and temperature usually comes in the form of ice crystals that simply go around the plane. "Those are all really big red flags to me," he said. The question is why the plane flew into that line of storms at that altitude instead of either flying around the storm system or trying to cruise over the top of it, Cox said. Mr Chapman said the plane was originally equipped with a cockpit voice recorder that investigators hope to recover. But the heavy rain in Florida is making investigators' work difficult as the crater the plane left behind is filled with rainwater. "This will be a several-day process, and the biggest obstacle that we're going to have is recovering the major wreckage from the impacted crater on the roadway," NTSB investigator Timothy Monville said at the news conference. Around 600 residents near the crash site remain displaced, but only one injury was reported on the ground. A man who was driving close to the scene as the plane crashed suffered leg wounds, investigators said, but they weren't sure the extent of the injury. Palm Beach County Commissioner Joel G. Flores said at a news conference that the county "doesn't have a clue" when residents who live near the crash site will be able to return to their homes as investigators continue to comb the area for debris and other material that could be used to investigate the cause of the crash. A shelter has been established for the residents of almost 80 mobile homes near the crash site, Flores said. "Our concern right now is clearing the scene so that our residents can get back to normal," he 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."