Florida plane crash: Evidence indicates parts of jet broke off before wreck that killed 9, investigators say

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Parts of a business jet appear to have broken off before the aircraft crashed in South Florida and erupted into a ball of flames, killing all nine people on board, a federal investigator said Monday.

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 7 miles (11 kilometers) southwest of West Palm Beach. Flames flickered around chunks of pavement lining the crater as shocked residents looked on in horror. Thick black smoke engulfed the crash site.

“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 Monday that the aircraft appeared to start breaking up before it made impact and that 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 at the news conference that the county “doesn’t have a clue” when residents living around crash site will be able to return to home.

There were around 77 mobile homes in the area and residents of those homes 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.

Family identifies one of the pilots

The Bahamas-bound jet began its journey at the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas. Airport spokesperson Jim Reynolds described it as a private aircraft. Authorities have not released the names of the people who died.

The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office declined to discuss the death investigation, saying it is still in early stages.

One of the pilots of the plane has been identified by her stepfather as 20-year-old Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras. She earned her pilot’s license in 2023 while a 17-year-old senior at West Boca Raton Community High School in Florida, local news reports said at the time.

Her pilot’s license showed she had the rating to fly that model of Learjet but not to be in command of the flight.

Her father, Allan Filgueiras, told The Associated Press he wasn’t prepared to speak about the crash.

Palm Beach County Mayor Sara Baxter asked for sympathy for the crash victims.

“Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers,” she said.

Pilot reported turbulence and ice, then the jet’s rapid descent

The plane was heading east at 35,000 feet (11,000 meters) 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 700 feet (213 meters), 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 rapidly deteriorated.

The pilot requested permission to climb another 2,000 feet (about 610 meters) 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 10,000 feet per minute,” the pilot radioed.

“We are in an overspeed condition descending 20,000 feet per minute,” the pilot radioed. 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.

“It was a cataclysmic plane crash,” DeSantis told reporters at the scene. “It looked like a missile going down and left a big crater on the side of the road.”