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INVESTIGATORS are examining whether a private jet that crashed in a residential area of Palm Beach County, Florida, killing all nine people on board, broke apart in mid-air before hitting the ground at high speed.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said on Monday there was evidence of a possible aircraft breakup before impact, and investigators could find wreckage some distance from the crash site.
The Bombardier-made Learjet 60 had taken off from Austin, Texas, and was bound for the Bahamas when it crashed on Sunday. Heavy rain and thunderstorms were occurring in the area at the time.
Reuters cited NTSB board member Tom Chapman saying weather conditions were a major focus of the investigation.
Flight information showed that the pilots had reported ice at 35,000 feet before the aircraft began descending at 10,000 feet per minute, a rate that later increased to 22,000 feet per minute.
Chapman said maintenance records indicated that a cockpit voice recorder had been installed, but investigators had yet to establish whether it was still on board.
The impact left a large crater beside a road near the entrance to a mobile home park. The crater was partially filled with water following severe storms, he said.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, in a post on X, highlighted the final moments of the flight, including the experience of the 20-year-old co-pilot.
"She was doing her job, communicating with (air traffic control) right to the end in a terrifying situation," Isaacman wrote. "She likely knew before many of those calls that she was going to die."
Videos circulating on social media appeared to show the aircraft striking the ground beside a road before erupting in flames.
Entertainment news outlet TMZ identified those on board as a Texas technology entrepreneur and his family, a nanny, two close friends and the two pilots. Their identities have not been independently confirmed in the report. - November 3, 2026
