Investigators examine Florida jet crash that killed nine after pilot reported trouble

Federal investigators were examining the crash of a business jet that killed all nine people aboard Sunday afternoon in Green Acres, Florida, about 11 kilometres southwest of West Palm Beach. The Learjet 60 plunged into a neighbourhood and exploded, leaving a crater and scattering burning debris. The cause remained unclear ahead of a news conference scheduled for 1 p.m. ET Monday in West Palm Beach.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said there were no immediate reports of injuries or deaths on the ground. Palm Beach County authorities were evacuating about 600 residents from a nearby mobile home community as the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board investigated. Officials had not released the names of those killed.

Camila Corteleti told the New York Post and New York Times on Monday that her daughter, 20-year-old Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, was the aircraft's co-pilot. Local reports from 2023 said Filgueiras obtained her pilot's licence at 17 while a senior at West Boca Raton Community High School. Her licence carried the rating needed to fly the jet, but did not qualify her to command the flight.

The Palm Beach County School District covered the cost of Filgueiras's licence through her high school's specialized aviation academy, where students train with flight simulators and drones. In a 2023 interview with WPEC-TV, she spoke about the unusual experience of being able to fly an aircraft before she could drive a car.

The jet began its journey Sunday at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas, bound for the Bahamas. Airport spokesperson Jim Reynolds described it as a private aircraft but could not immediately give details about its occupants. It was travelling east at roughly 35,000 feet when the pilot began reporting difficulties, according to air traffic control recordings captured by LiveATC.net.

The pilot reported ice building up on the aircraft and turbulence causing altitude changes of as much as 700 feet, or 210 metres. Rain was pounding the region. After asking to climb another 2,000 feet, or 610 metres, the pilot quickly declared an emergency. Radio reports described descent rates increasing from 10,000 to 20,000 feet per minute and an overspeed condition. The pilot then warned controllers that the aircraft was going to hit the ground.

Video taken by passersby showed the jet banking sharply right before impact and exploding. Black smoke enveloped the scene, with flames around broken pavement at the crater. Nearby resident Anthony Blackmon told NBC affiliate WTVJ that debris struck his home and the road caught fire. Speaking at the scene, DeSantis described the crash as cataclysmic.