NTSB Finds Learjet's Left Elevator Up to 3.8 Miles From Florida Crash Site, Showing Tail Broke Before Impact

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has found pieces of the Learjet's left elevator up to 3.8 miles (about 6.1 km) from the wreckage. The jet came down on Sunday, 1 November, in Palm Beach County, Florida, killing all nine aboard. That distance suggests part of the tail broke away before impact, investigators said.

The elevator, on the tail, moves the nose up or down. Board member Tom Chapman said it is unclear whether losing it contributed to the crash. He said forces on the plane as it fell may have ripped it away instead. Still, the board member called the find 'a very, very significant bit of evidence.'

Where the Pieces Landed

Most of the left elevator turned up in three pieces, with the nearest piece found 1.3 miles (about 2.1 km) from the crash site, Chapman told reporters on Tuesday. On the Learjet 60, the elevators hang from a tailplane mounted on top of the fin, a layout known as a T-tail. The crew had reported ice, precipitation and moderate turbulence to air traffic controllers before the emergency. His full briefing to reporters appears below.

After a brief climb, N722BD fell from 35,250 feet (about 10,700 metres) to 8,750 feet (about 2,670 metres). Federal Aviation Administration figures show the drop took just over a minute. On Monday, the NTSB said the co-pilot had sent a mayday call reporting a sudden loss of height and excess speed. The jet then dived at high speed into a road beside homes. Tuesday's find gives investigators a specific part to examine.

What Investigators Are Examining

Weather is still a central line of inquiry, Chapman said. He added that the lost elevator was important evidence, 'pointing us towards other things to investigate.' The NTSB has received dashboard camera footage and accounts from multiple eyewitnesses. He said they should help show the aircraft's condition and how the crash unfolded. The team is also going through the aircraft's maintenance and crew records as it reconstructs the final moments of the flight.

Water fills the crater beside the road, and investigators expect critical parts of the jet to lie beneath it. Crews took down an unsteady utility pole on Tuesday, and the NTSB expected pumping to start on Wednesday, 4 November. Much of what the team has collected so far is small fragments it has yet to identify. Tuesday's briefing was the board's last on site. Further updates will come through the NTSB's website and X account.

Who Was on Board

Aboard were technology entrepreneur Adam Robinson, his wife Helen Sharp and the couple's two children, according to a public relations firm for the families. The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office identified the other passengers as Ana Maria Ramirez Cetina, who cared for the children, Rachel Reed and Rowan Charmi Fehr Toews.

The sheriff's office identified the pilots as Jeffrey Gregory, 55, and Nathalia Filgueiras, 20. Chapman said the board knew the victims' names and was keeping them in its thoughts. Officials will not name a cause while on scene, and a preliminary report normally follows within about 30 days.