Overview
- A Learjet 60 crashed in Palm Beach County, Florida, killing all nine people aboard and scattering wreckage across homes and a flooded crater near Greenacres.
- NTSB teams drained and excavated the waterlogged site and recovered a portion of an engine, which officials call a very important piece of evidence for reconstruction.
- Investigators earlier recovered the left tail elevator in three pieces, with one piece found miles from the main impact area, raising questions about whether parts separated before hitting the ground.
- Cockpit and flight data recorders have not been located and investigators are collecting maintenance records, ATC and crew communications and wreckage for laboratory tests with a preliminary NTSB report expected in about a month.
- Local authorities handled evacuations and difficult debris recovery, and officials warn that laboratory analysis of small fragments and weather data will be crucial to determining whether icing, turbulence or structural failure led to the break‑up.