Nine perish in high-speed Florida plane crash

The National Transportation Safety Board confirmed Monday that all nine occupants of a small plane died when it crashed into a residential area in Florida’s Palm Beach County on Sunday afternoon. The Learjet 60 was operated by Aurora Aviation Inc., according to a preliminary report from the Federal Aviation Administration. Two flight crew members and seven passengers were killed in the crash, according to the report. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board were investigating the crash, and at least 20 investigators were already on-site, the board said Monday.

A video clip circulating on social media, which appeared to come from a car’s dashcam, seemed to show the aircraft nosediving into the ground at the edge of a road. The plane seemed to be traveling at an extreme speed, and cause a large, firey explosion.

Another video of the crash site showed a deep crater in the middle of a fiery debris field and pieces of tarmac. No large portions of the plane or remains of the victims were shown in the video. One man on the ground near the impact site suffered a leg injury, according to the NTSB. Authorities evacuated about 600 locals whose homes were close to the crash site, according to local news.

The aircraft was heading to North Eleuthera Airport in the Bahamas after leaving Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas earlier in the day, according to the FAA. NTSB investigators said the plane’s flight crew communicated with air traffic control less than five minutes before the crash, saying they encountered light ice and moderate turbulence at an altitude of about 35,000 feet. They asked for permission to climb higher, and controllers approved the request. The aircraft sent out a mayday call soon afterward, reporting a rapid and uncontrolled descent. The flight crew continued to call out altitude readings until just before the crash, according to the NTSB.

Did the ice and turbulence cause the crash? The NTSB said weather was a likely contributing factor, but it was too early to be sure. Thunderstorms were in the area at the time, but investigators weren’t sure if the plane directly flew through one, the board said. Pieces of the aircraft, such as the horizontal stabilizer, may also have fallen off before the crash, the NTSB said.

NTSB investigators said that the extent of the aircraft’s disintegration and the large debris field would make the investigation more difficult. They asked people not to move debris from the crash if they found any.

Do we know who died? The plane’s copilot was Nathalia Filgueiras, 20, according to the New York Post. She had been working as a commercial pilot for nine months after receiving her pilot’s license in high school, the outlet reported. Authorities have not released information on the identities of those aboard the plane.