NTSB finds evidence of in-flight breakup in Florida Learjet crash that killed nine

The National Transportation Safety Board said on 2 November that it has evidence the Learjet 60 that crashed in Palm Beach County the day before began to break up in flight. All nine people on board died when the aircraft plunged into a roadway near Greenacres shortly before 13:00 local time on 1 November.

NTSB member Tom Chapman told reporters the crew reported light clear ice and moderate turbulence at about 12:47 while flying at 35,000 feet. The outside temperature was minus 53 degrees. Moments later they said they were picking up precipitation and asked to climb to 37,000 feet. Less than 30 seconds after that request they issued a mayday and reported a rapid descent.

Chapman said investigators have some evidence of an in-flight breakup of aircraft components before impact. He declined to specify which parts may have separated. The aircraft was a 2004 Bombardier Learjet 60 registered N722BD, operated by Aurora Aviation under the trade name Upper Jet on a Part 135 charter. It left Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas at roughly 10:37 for North Eleuthera in the Bahamas with two pilots and seven passengers.

One person on the ground suffered a leg injury. The impact created a crater and scattered debris across a residential and commercial area. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis described the descent as looking like a missile. Dashcam video captured the final seconds of the near-vertical dive and fireball.

The NTSB has about 20 investigators on site. Recovering major wreckage from the crater is the main immediate challenge. A preliminary report is expected within 30 days; a final report with probable cause typically takes one to two years. Chapman stressed that the team will not speculate on cause at the scene.

One of the pilots was 20-year-old Nathalia Filgueiras of Boca Raton, who obtained her commercial pilot licence at 17. Her mother described her as responsible and hardworking. Official identification of all victims has not been released. The aircraft was registered to an LLC in Delaware.

The crew’s radio calls show the situation deteriorated in under a minute after they reported ice and turbulence. Altitude deviations of about 700 feet were noted before the climb request. Descent rates later reached 20,000 feet per minute. The last transmission ended with the words “we’re out of time.”

The crash site is roughly nine miles from Mar-a-Lago. No one on the ground was killed. Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office secured the area for the investigation. Weather and the reported icing remain under review along with the possibility of structural failure during the high-speed descent.

This is the first detailed public account from the NTSB of the timeline and the early evidence of breakup. Further recovery of the wreckage and any flight data or cockpit voice recorders will determine the sequence more precisely. The investigation continues.