Investigators say Learjet may have broken up before crashing in Florida

The National Transportation Safety Board said on Monday a Learjet 60 that crashed on Sunday in a residential area in Palm Beach County, Florida, killing all nine people on board, may have broken up before hitting the ground at high speed.



The private Bombardier-made jet had taken off from Austin, Texas, and was headed to the Bahamas. Heavy rainfall and thunderstorms were occurring in the area where it went down.



NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, posting on X, highlighted the harrowing experience of those on the aircraft, including the 20-year-old copilot.



"She was doing her job, communicating with (air traffic control) right to the end in a terrifying situation," Isaacman wrote. "She likely knew before many of those calls that she was going to die."



A jet can break up in midair at very high rates of descent, subjecting passengers to extreme physical forces.



Videos on social media showed the jet slamming into the ground next to a road and exploding. The pilots reported ice at 35,000 feet but then reported the plane was descending at a rate of 10,000 feet per minute, which quickly increased to 22,000 feet per minute.