Nine killed in Florida Learjet crash as pilots question takeoff

The New York Post posted a YouTube video titled “‘They Shouldn’t Have Been Flying’: Pilots Break Down Deadly Florida Plane Crash.” Nine people died when the Learjet hit a Florida roadway.

The channel’s own description says the Post’s Caitlyn Becker speaks with two veteran pilots who break down the flight’s final moments, including reports of icing, turbulence and a staggering rate of descent. One former Navy fighter pilot questions whether the jet should have taken off in the first place. A retired airline captain explains the forces that may have overwhelmed the aircraft, the description states.

The Learjet 60 was carrying seven passengers and two crew members from Austin, Texas, to North Eleuthera in the Bahamas. It crashed around 12:50 p.m. ET on Nov. 1 near Military Trail and 10th Avenue North in Greenacres, Palm Beach County, USA TODAY’s N’dea Yancey-Bragg reported. Radio traffic showed the pilot requested a climb to 37,000 feet due to turbulence. Air traffic control approved the request. About 90 seconds separated a routine report of ice and turbulence from the mayday call.

Co-pilot Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras radioed the emergency. “We’re gonna crash into the ground!” she cried, according to reporting on the air traffic control audio. The plane descended at a rate of up to 20,000 feet per minute. It nose-dived into the roadway and exploded. Dashcam video showed the jet plummeting into the road, a fiery explosion and a large crater, outlets that examined the footage said. NTSB member Thomas Chapman said at a Nov. 2 news conference that investigators had evidence of “some breakup” of the aircraft before impact. Weather will be a major focus of the probe, he indicated.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis called the wreck “a cataclysmic plane crash” and said “It looked like a missile going down.” Aviation lawyer Mary Schiavo, a former Transportation Department inspector general who reviewed videos and flight data, told The New York Times, “That is a plane not descending, but a plane falling.” She added, “Icing can be so severe it can overcome and stall the plane.” Retired United Airways captain Steven Arroyo, after listening to the audio, said the pilot was indicating the plane was uncontrollable, The New York Times reported.

The dead were identified by their families as Adam Robinson, Helen Sharp, their children Emma, 4, and Charlie, 2, along with Rachael Reed, Charmi Fehr and Anita Maria Cetina. The pilot was Jeff Gregory. Filgueiras was 20. USA TODAY reported one person injured on the ground. The New York Times reported that local officials said no one on the ground was injured. About 600 residents from 77 mobile homes near the crash site were evacuated.