'Very significant' evidence found in Florida jet crash probe. Updates - USA Today
Federal investigators on Tuesday said key pieces of the business jet that crashed into a South Florida community had been found far from the crash site, suggesting the plane was breaking up before crashing.
During a mid-afternoon press conference, National Transportation Safety Board member Thomas Chapman called the findings a "very significant bit of evidence" in the crash that killed all nine people aboard and injured one person on the ground.
The Learjet 60 carrying seven passengers and two crewmembers from Austin, Texas, to the Bahamas slammed into the ground near a busy roadway in Palm Beach County at around 12:50 p.m. ET on Nov. 1.
"Yesterday the majority of the aircraft’s left elevator was located in three pieces within a range of about 1.3 to 3.8 miles away from the accident site," Chapman said Tuesday. "Those items are being retained for analysis."
The elevator, he said, is a control surface located on the tail which controls the up and down pitch of the aircraft. Chapman noted that evidence also suggests the jet may have been out of control before the pieces fell off.
The NTSB, the agency leading the investigation into the crash, continued to comb through the wreckage of the aircraft Tuesday and planned to continue its efforts on Wednesday, Chapman said. Aviation experts said a central question for investigators will be what led the flight crew to lose control of the aircraft.
The search for answers comes as the nation grapples with a harrowing audio recording that captured a person in the cockpit reporting the emergency and issuing a mayday call moments before the aircraft crashed into the ground. Video from the scene of the crash also shows the plane nosediving towards the ground, then exploding.
Loved ones have now identified all victims of the crash, including a Texas family of four.
During a press conference Tuesday, Chapman said key pieces of the Learjet 60 had been found about 1.3 to 3.8 miles away from the crash site, suggesting the plane was breaking up before crashing.
Chapman called the findings a "very significant bit of evidence" in the crash. "Those items are being retained for analysis."
Chapman also said federal investigators had begun to remove water from the crater that formed when the plane slammed into the ground. Investigators previously said it would take several days to recover the wreckage from the impact crater, which was filled with water due to the weather, and the wide swath of debris left behind by the plane.
“They believe they’ll be able to access it tomorrow,” he said. “We expect to find critical airplane components in the crater.”
One key target of the search is the cockpit voice recorder, also known as a black box. Chapman said records indicate such a device was installed on the aircraft at some point, but investigators don’t know whether it was still on board before the crash.
Chapman said the NTSB was working to allow displaced residents to return to their homes but did not specify a time frame for that to happen.
At a news conference one day earlier, Chapman told reporters weather conditions at the time of the crash will be "a major concern of the investigation." Heavy rain and thunderstorms were moving through the area at the time, AccuWeather said in a statement.
Chapman encouraged members of the public who captured video of the crash or located pieces of debris to contact the NTSB.
"Our mission is to understand not just what happened but why it happened and to recommend changes to prevent it from happening again," he said.
The plane was operated by Aurora Airlines, doing business as Upper Jets, according to the NTSB. In a statement to USA TODAY, Upper Jets offered condolences to everyone affected by the crash and said it is cooperating with local, state, and federal authorities.
"Our hearts go out to everyone impacted by this tragedy," the company said. "We are committed to supporting the families of all those who lost a loved one yesterday, and are praying for them as we grieve together."
The Learjet 60 pilot Jeff Gregory was an aviator with years of experience, April Honnen, his former employer, told The New York Times. Camila Corteleti told the outlet her daughter, co-pilot Nathalia Filgueiras, had logged more than 1,300 hours of flight time and received her pilot’s license at 17. Filgueiras was 20 at the time of the crash.
Pilot training records are among the many factors federal investigators are likely digging into as the investigation into the deadly crash progresses, according to Katie Pribyl, acting co-president of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. Commercial and private aircraft are certified and regulated differently by the Federal Aviation Administration.
"It's not the norm for most pilots, but it's not unusual either," Pribyl said of the early start to Filgueiras' career. "You can solo at 16 and earn a private pilot certificate at 17 and a lot of kids who grow up around airplanes do exactly that."
Pribyl said to fly professionally, pilots must go through additional testing and training to secure more ratings and certificates, with the highest level being an airline transport pilot certificate. "It's a very long, thorough process," she said.
"Anyone flying a jet professionally has gone through a lot more training and testing than just that first private pilot certificate," she later added.
Typically, the pilot in command will control the aircraft while the second in command monitors the instruments, handles radio calls and helps plan the flight, she said. The requirements for a captain on a charter flight may be higher than those for the second in command.
"The right seat of a charter is a pretty common place for pilots to build experience alongside a more seasoned pilot in command," Pribyl said.
Mikaela Schluth, who has known copilot Nathalia Filgueiras since middle school, described the recording as "definitely, probably the worst thing I've ever heard" in an interview with CBS News.
Schluth told the outlet she is proud of how Filgueiras handled the situation, "and how she was able to stay calm and give information, up until the last minute."
Schluth's comments come after NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman released a statement defending the copilot on social media, saying she "was doing her job, communicating with ATC right to the end in a terrifying situation."
"She likely knew before many of those calls that she was going to die," he wrote. "I have heard final calls from friends, from military pilots with thousands of hours in fighter aircraft, and they are just as heartbreaking because they know the end is approaching."
The deadly crash sent shockwaves through a South Florida community, leaving residents scrambling from their homes and wondering whether they had witnessed an attack.
Witnesses described a thunderous boom that shook homes, briefly knocked out power and sent neighbors rushing outside. For Armando Perez, a nighttime truck driver, the disaster began with a blast so powerful it jolted him awake.
"I thought, 'Is this freaking Iran?'" Perez told the USA TODAY Network's Palm Beach Post, describing a force that shook his body like a gigantic subwoofer. Moments later, he heard neighbors screaming outside.
The FAA said the Learjet 60 departed Austin-Bergstrom International Airport at 10:37 am ET and was headed to North Eleuthera Airport in the Bahamas when it crashed about two hours later.
Moments before the crash, the crew reported they were at about 35,000 feet and the temperature outside was -53°F, Chapman, the NTSB member, said. A person in the cockpit said the crew was "managing the ice," encountering "moderate" turbulence and seeking "better rides," according to audio posted by LiveATC, a website that broadcasts air traffic control communications.
Less than a minute later, the person issued a mayday call and reported the aircraft was descending at 10,000 feet per minute. Seconds later, they declared an emergency and said the descent rate had accelerated to 20,000 feet per minute.
"We're going to crash into the ground," the person said. About 35 seconds after the initial distress call, the last cockpit transmission was: "We're out of time."
Flight tracking website Flightradar24 said data showed the vertical descent rate at one point exceeded 32,000 feet per minute. Videos captured the jet nosediving into the ground near the entrance to a mobile home community before erupting into flames.
Among the first to be identified was copilot Nathalia Filgueiras, 20. In an interview outside her Boca Raton, Florida, home, the sister of Filgueiras said the copilot "fought until the last moment she could."
Giulia Filgueiras, 21, said Nathalia was a brave, "amazing girl" who always followed her dreams. She wanted to be a pilot since she was 12, Giulia Filgueiras said, and "showed any girl could do what it takes."
Family members later identified the passengers as Adam Robinson, 45; his wife, Helen Sharp, 40; their children, Charlie, 4, and Emma, 2; the children's nanny, Anita Maria Cetina; and another couple, Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr.
"We are deeply grateful to the first responders, investigators, and the Palm Beach County community for their care, and to everyone who has reached out with love," the families of the passengers in the crash said in a joint statement on Nov. 2. "Our hearts are also with the families of the pilots, who are grieving alongside us."
April Honnen, who works for East Coast Jets, identified Captain Jeff Gregory as the other pilot. Honnen said in a statement on social media that Gregory worked for East Coast Jets in 2016 and 2017 "before pursuing other opportunities."
"Our prayers go out to Jeff’s family, his fellow crew member, the passengers and everyone affected by this heart breaking tragedy," she wrote.
The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the cause of the crash. On Nov. 2, the NTSB said it's too soon to say how long the investigation will take or when it will release a report detailing the likely cause of the crash.
USA TODAY Network reporters spoke with aviation experts and meteorologists who reviewed air traffic control audio as well as videos and images of the crash. They pointed to a wide array of factors that may have contributed to the accident, including icing, turbulence and poor weather conditions. At the time of the incident, portions of Palm Beach County were under flood warnings and meteorologists reported high winds and low visibility.
"Icing can occur extremely quickly, leading to rapid changes in the aerodynamic behavior of the aircraft," said MyRadar Weather senior meteorologist Matthew Cappucci. Severe icing situations can hamper the ability to maneuver an aircraft.
Turbulence, meanwhile, can disrupt airflow into the engines and, in severe cases, cause structural damage, according to Robert Joslin, a professor in the department of aerospace engineering at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, told USA TODAY. He said it's possible an "external force" like a powerful draft may have pushed the plane's nose down toward the Earth.
One thing travelers should know is flying, in general, remains very safe – especially on commercial airliners, which most people take.
A May 2026 comparative risk analysis by Mihhail Berezovski, an associate professor and director of Undergraduate Research at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, found that “the probability of a fatality per airline boarding is dramatically lower than the per-event risk associated with many common recreational activities, including skiing, scuba diving, marathon running, and skydiving."
Of the nearly 1,000 aviation investigations initiated by the National Transportation Safety Board in the U.S. in 2026, relatively few involve commercial aviation.
However Berezovski’s colleague Kristy Kiernan, associate director of Embry-Riddle's Boeing Center for Aviation and Aerospace Safety, says private aviation isn’t necessarily less safe.
“When we say, ‘private aviation’ that runs the gamut from highly structured organizations with robust safety management programs and strong safety cultures, to people who own their own airplanes, and are not required to demonstrate the same level of requirements,” she told USA TODAY by email. “It's just like a commercial bus company has different requirements than you do for driving your own car.”
