The Smart Marty Sky Dispatch
Jet may have experienced ‘some breakup’ before it crashed in Florida, killing 9, NTSB says
The plane crashed around 12:50 p.m. Sunday near the residential neighborhood of Cresthaven in Florida.
Officials said there may have been some breakup of the Learjet 60 before it crashed Sunday afternoon in Palm Beach County, Florida, killing all nine people on board.
The aircraft departed from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas and was en route to North Eleuthera, Bahamas, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
The crash occurred around 12:50 p.m. Sunday near the Cresthaven neighborhood in Greenacres, about 7 miles southwest of West Palm Beach. Seven passengers and two crew members were aboard.
NTSB member Tom Chapman said there is some evidence of breakup before impact and that investigators are seeking to determine what happened. Video from a dashcam showed the jet descending rapidly and crashing into a road with a fiery explosion.
Reported air traffic control audio included a mayday call and descriptions of rapid descent and an over-speed condition. The weather was being examined as a major focus of the investigation, with reports of showers and thunderstorms in southern Florida the day of the crash.