Investigators have indications that a Learjet 60 began breaking apart before crashing in Palm Beach County on Sunday, killing all nine people aboard, a National Transportation Safety Board member said Monday.
During a press conference, NTSB member Tom Chapman said the investigative team of about 20 people will be looking into whether weather conditions, including icing, contributed to the crash but said it's too early to determine the cause.
Timothy Monville, the investigator in charge, said the crash site spans about half a mile and is scattered across ballfields, businesses and personal residences.
"We've just begun our documentation. We have a lot of work to do on scene. This will be a several-day process and the biggest obstacle we're going to have is recovering the major wreckage from the impacted crater on the roadway," Monville said.
The aircraft was traveling from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas heading to North Eleuthera Airport in the Bahamas when it crashed in Palm Beach County, killing all nine people on board – two crew members and seven passengers.
The only reported injury on the ground was a leg injury suffered by a man traveling in a vehicle near the crash, Monville said.
About 600 residents have been displaced and are receiving temporary shelter assistance, according to the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office.
Chapman revealed new details of the aircraft's final moments during Monday's press conference.
It departed at 10:37 a.m. Eastern time. Around 12:47 p.m. the crew transmitted a message saying they were encountering "light, clear ice" and some moderate turbulence.
Shortly afterward, the crew said, "We are picking up precipitation," and requested to climb to 37,000 feet, which was approved by air traffic controllers.
Less than 30 seconds later, a transmission from the crew announced a descent followed by a mayday call.
At about 12:48 p.m., the crew transmitted: "We are in an overspeed condition, descending…" and the rest was unintelligible.
"On behalf of all of us at NTSB, I want to express our profound condolences to the family and friends of those who were lost in this tragedy. We are truly, truly sorry for your loss," Chapman said.
There is evidence of the aircraft beginning to break apart before the impact, according to Chapman. He said NTSB will be interviewing people who witnessed the accident and encouraged people with information or videos and photos of the crash to contact NTSB.
A cockpit voice recorder was installed in the aircraft, but Chapman said they don't know yet if the recorder was on board, but they are "very hopeful" that they'll be able to recover it in order to shed light on what went wrong.
"Our mission is to understand not just what happened but why it happened. And to recommend changes to prevent it from happening again," said Chapman.
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