Investigators believe parts of a private jet that crashed in Florida, killing all nine people on board, may have broken off before the aircraft hit the ground.
The Learjet 60 was travelling from Austin, Texas to the Bahamas when it nosedived into a multi-lane highway in Palm Beach and exploded on impact on Sunday.
The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said weather conditions would be a major focus of the investigation. Officials said they were struggling to access the wreckage due to a large crater formed by the impact on Military Trail, a six-lane road lined with businesses and restaurants. The crash occurred at around 12:50 local time.
"The biggest obstacle that we're going to have is recovering the major wreckage from the impacted crater on the roadway," lead investigator Tim Monville said at a news conference on Monday.
The crater, located near the entrance to a mobile home park, was partially filled with water due to severe storms in the area at the time of the crash. Heavy rainfall and thunderstorms had been reported in the region. Debris was scattered across sports fields, businesses and homes nearby.
"We do have some evidence that there was some breakup of the aircraft before impact," NTSB official Tom Chapman said. "We may find parts of the aircraft some distance away from the actual impact site."
Flight analysis indicates the jet was plummeting hundreds of feet per second before the crash. In air traffic control audio recordings, a voice from the cockpit can be heard reporting "moderate turbulence" and that the crew was "managing the ice."
The same voice is then heard saying the plane was "picking up precipitation" and "we need to climb." Moments later, the crew reported the aircraft was descending at a rate of 10,000 feet (3,048 metres) per minute.
An emergency was declared. The crew can then be heard yelling "we are in an overspeed condition descending 20,000ft per minute," before saying, "we are going to crash into the ground."
Officials are also attempting to determine whether a cockpit voice recorder was on board and whether it can be recovered.
Seven passengers were killed in the crash. They were named in a joint statement as tech entrepreneur Adam Robinson, his wife Helen Sharp, and their two children, Emma, four, and Charlie, two, along with Rachael Reed, Charmi Fehr and Anita Maria Cetina.
The pilot was identified in reports as Jeffery Gregory. The copilot was named as Nathalia Filgueiras, 20, who reportedly earned her pilot's licence at the age of 17.
Filgueiras's mother, Camila Corteleti, confirmed to US media that her daughter had died in the crash. Corteleti told the New York Times: "She loved the freedom. It was completely different seeing the world from the top."
In a 2023 interview, Filgueiras spoke of receiving her pilot's licence while still a senior in high school. "I like being different than everyone," she said. "Some people think that it's weird that I can fly planes, but I can't drive a car, I mean I can but, a lot of people think it's funny."
A spokesperson for East Coast Jets, where pilot Jeff Gregory previously worked, said: "We are deeply saddened to learn that Capt Jeff Gregory was among those who lost their lives in yesterday's tragic aviation accident in Palm Beach."
One person in a vehicle on the ground sustained a leg injury.
