> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.thecontrail.org/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # The Florida Learjet's Tail Broke Off in Midair, NTSB Confirms - URL: https://www.thecontrail.org/florida-learjet-crash-ntsb/ - Published: 2026-11-03T21:05:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-03T21:17:39.000Z - Description: Investigators found pieces of the Learjet's tail more than a mile from the crash site, confirming the plane was breaking apart before it hit the ground. Here's what the NTSB said Tuesday about the crash that killed all nine people on board. - Author: Zach Benitez - Tags: News, Breaking News The Learjet that crashed into a Palm Beach County neighborhood on Sunday, killing all nine people on board, broke apart in the air before it hit the ground, federal investigators confirmed Tuesday. Pieces of the plane's tail were found more than a mile from the crash site, broken into three parts, which NTSB Member Tom Chapman said "confirms the plane was breaking apart before it hit the ground." The flight was a paid charter operated by Aurora Aviation, which does business as Upper Jets, carrying two crew members and seven passengers from Austin, Texas, to North Eleuthera in the Bahamas. Minutes before it fell, the crew told controllers they were picking up light, clear ice and moderate turbulence at 35,000 feet. Investigators say the weather is a major focus, and that they still need to work out "who knew what when." --- ## Latest Updates **Tuesday, Nov. 3, 4:15 p.m. ET:** After today's briefing, I asked my grandfather, who spent 25 years in New York air traffic control, what he made of it. "Likely that tail separated due to forces associated with the thunderstorm," he said. "Excessive icing led to loss of control. Loss so severe that the flight crew couldn't recover." He noted that, according to the briefing, controllers had cleared the flight to deviate around the weather as needed. That's his reading as a retired controller, not an NTSB finding. The agency hasn't named a cause, and won't until its final report. **Tuesday, Nov. 3, 3 p.m. ET:** The NTSB now says the plane was definitely breaking apart before impact. Investigators found part of the jet's tail more than a mile from the crash site, broken into three pieces, which NTSB Member Tom Chapman said "confirms the plane was breaking apart before it hit the ground." Chapman said the damaged tail likely wouldn't have let the crew pull the plane out of its dive, and that it's unclear whether even an intact tail would have helped at that speed. Weather remains a key focus of the investigation. Before the dive, the crew reported light ice and moderate turbulence at 35,000 feet, where it was minus 47 degrees Celsius, then asked to climb to 37,000 feet. Less than 30 seconds later they reported descending and called mayday. A preliminary report is expected in about a month, and finding the final cause will likely take more than a year. The Associated Press has identified the captain as Jeff Gregory, 55, citing people who knew him. FAA records show he held airline transport pilot and flight instructor certificates. The plane was operated by Aurora Aviation, which does business as Upper Jets. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ac/ed/acedfbb2-ff9c-499b-b431-eb36d7539be1/content/images/2026/11/Screenshot-2026-11-03-at-15.55.08.png) **Monday, Nov. 2, 7:15 p.m. ET:** The families of all seven passengers have identified their loved ones in a joint statement shared on social media. They were Adam Robinson and Helen Sharp, their children, Emma, 4, and Charlie, 2, Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr, and Anita Maria Cetina, who cared for the children and was "truly part of the family." "Adam and Helen were devoted parents, and Emma, 4, and Charlie, 2, were the light of their lives," the families said. They thanked first responders, investigators and the Palm Beach County community, said their hearts are also with the families of the pilots, and asked for privacy as they grieve. **Monday, Nov. 2, 4:35 p.m. ET:** Several of the victims have now been identified by their families. Austin tech entrepreneur Adam Robinson, 44, his wife, Helen, and their two young children were on board, relatives told TMZ and the New York Post. Two close friends of the family and the family's nanny were also among those killed, along with the plane's two pilots. Officials haven't yet released the names of everyone on board. **Monday, Nov. 2, 2:09 p.m. ET:** The NTSB also said during the briefing that "we may find parts of the aircraft some distance away from the actual impact site," another sign the plane began coming apart in the air. Anyone who finds debris is asked not to touch or move it and to contact authorities. **Monday, Nov. 2, 2:06 p.m. ET:** After the briefing, I asked my grandfather, who spent 25 years in New York air traffic control, what he made of it. "Looks like structural failure to the tail section," he said. "Question is what caused it. Weather? Or defective design or construction." He said investigators will need to recover the tail to investigate properly. He also pointed out that airlines operate under stricter federal rules about flying into areas of known thunderstorm activity, while this flight was a charter, which runs under a different set of rules. **Monday, Nov. 2, 1:43 p.m. ET:** The briefing has ended. Asked about the victims, Monville said identifying them is up to local authorities. Investigators also asked anyone who finds debris from the plane not to touch or move it and to contact authorities. **Monday, Nov. 2, 1:40 p.m. ET:** Asked about injuries on the ground, Monville said a man driving away from the area next to the crash site suffered a leg injury, and investigators will interview him today to learn more. Asked how big the debris field is, he said there's been conflicting information, but debris landed across ball fields and people's homes. **Monday, Nov. 2, 1:38 p.m. ET:** Asked about the plane's "black box," Chapman said the plane's records show it had a cockpit voice recorder at some point, but investigators don't yet know whether one was still on board. Asked whether a missing recorder would hold up the investigation, he said having it would make the work easier, but they can find answers either way. **Monday, Nov. 2, 1:35 p.m. ET:** Asked whether the plane's turn toward Freeport, in the Bahamas, was the crew's decision or air traffic control's, Monville and Chapman said that question gets into "speculation" and the NTSB can't answer it yet. **Monday, Nov. 2, 1:34 p.m. ET:** Asked how much responsibility for avoiding the weather falls on the crew versus air traffic control, Chapman said investigators need to figure out "who knew what when." **Monday, Nov. 2, 1:31 p.m. ET:** Tim Monville, the NTSB investigator leading the investigation, said recovering the main wreckage from the crater the plane left in the roadway will be a major challenge. **Monday, Nov. 2, 1:28 p.m. ET:** Chapman laid out the flight's timeline. The plane left Austin at 10:37 a.m. ET for North Eleuthera in the Bahamas with nine people on board, two crew members and seven passengers, and was in contact with several air traffic control facilities along the way. At 12:47 p.m., the crew told controllers they were picking up light, clear ice that was manageable. They told Miami controllers they were in moderate turbulence, with the outside temperature at minus 47 degrees Celsius (about minus 53 Fahrenheit) and the plane moving up and down by about 700 feet. Saying they were flying into precipitation, the crew asked to climb to 37,000 feet, and controllers approved it. Soon after, the crew reported they were descending and made a mayday call, said the plane was in an overspeed condition and called out their altitude as it fell rapidly. **Monday, Nov. 2, 1:20 p.m. ET:** The NTSB briefing is now running about 20 minutes late, with thousands of people waiting on the agency's livestream. When it starts, NTSB Member Tom Chapman is expected to lay out what investigators have found at the crash site, what they've recovered and what they'll examine over the coming days. Early briefings like this rarely name a cause, but they usually confirm key details, like whether the plane's recorders were found. We'll post every update here as he speaks. **Monday, Nov. 2, 1:01 p.m. ET:** The NTSB briefing, set for 1 p.m., is running a few minutes late. NTSB Member Tom Chapman is expected to share the first details of the investigation, including what investigators have found at the crash site. We'll add what he says here as soon as he speaks. **Monday, Nov. 2, 12:39 p.m. ET:** NTSB Member Tom Chapman is due to brief reporters at 1 p.m. ET in West Palm Beach on the investigation and the work investigators plan at the crash site. We'll add what he says here. --- ## The Final Minutes The flight left Austin at 9:37 a.m. local time, 10:37 a.m. Eastern, according to flight tracking data. As it crossed Florida, the area was under strong thunderstorms, with a flood watch covering Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties. Over southwest Florida, the crew reported icing and turbulence to air traffic controllers. "We have light, clear ice that is manageable and moderate turbulence," the crew said, according to publicly available air traffic control recordings. Turbulence was pushing the plane up and down by as much as 700 feet, and the crew asked to climb from 35,000 to 37,000 feet. Shortly after briefly climbing, around 12:48 p.m., the plane went into a steep, descending right turn. The crew declared an emergency and reported the plane descending faster and faster, from 8,000 to 10,000 to 20,000 feet per minute, along with an overspeed warning. Flight tracking data showed the descent topping 32,000 feet per minute, about 360 mph straight down. The last altitude reading came at 12:49 p.m., at about 8,750 feet. The crash was reported moments later. For comparison, a normal descent into an airport is around 2,000 feet per minute. I asked my grandfather, who spent 25 years in New York air traffic control, what controllers hear when a plane goes down. "You never forget it," he told me. Florida Learjet crash · Nov. 1 The flight's final minutes 10:37 a.m. ETLeaves Austin for the Bahamas About 12:47 p.m.At 35,000 feet, crew reports "light, clear ice" and moderate turbulence, asks to climb About 12:48 p.m.Steep descending turn begins, mayday declared 12:49 p.m.Last reading near 8,750 feet, falling over 32,000 feet a minute About 12:50 p.m.Crashes beside Military Trail, Palm Beach County Tuesday, Nov. 3NTSB confirms the tail broke off in the air. Pieces found more than a mile from the crash site What's nextNTSB preliminary report expected in about a month. A final cause will likely take more than a year. Contrail · Times Eastern, from the NTSB, flight tracking and ATC audio --- ## Who Was on Board Nine people were on the plane, and none survived. The seven passengers were Adam Robinson and Helen Sharp, their children Emma, 4, and Charlie, 2, Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr, and Anita Maria Cetina, who cared for the children, their families said in a joint statement. The co-pilot was Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, 20, from the Boca Raton area, her family confirmed to CBS12\. She reportedly earned her pilot's license at 17 and hoped to fly for an airline one day. The Associated Press has identified the captain as Jeff Gregory, 55, a pilot with airline transport and flight instructor certificates, citing people who knew him. The flight was operated by Aurora Aviation, which does business as Upper Jets. --- ## On the Ground and What Happens Next The plane came down beside Military Trail near Cresthaven, leaving a large crater close to homes and passing cars. Sheriff's deputies closed Military Trail between Cresthaven Boulevard and 10th Avenue North, and about 600 nearby residents were displaced while crews worked the scene. Officials initially said nobody on the ground had been hurt, but the NTSB said Monday that a man driving away from the area next to the crash site suffered a leg injury. Debris landed across ball fields and people's homes. Investigators will spend the coming days documenting the wreckage, then move it to a secure facility for closer examination. They'll look at weather data from the storms over Florida that afternoon, the plane's maintenance records, both pilots' training and experience and the full air traffic control audio. A preliminary report is expected in about a month, and a final report with an official cause will likely take more than a year. Private and charter flights run under different rules than airlines, and airline flying in the US remains extremely safe. Crashes like this one get investigated just as closely, though, and what the NTSB finds can lead to changes across the whole industry.