Learjet Passengers Identified After West Palm Beach Crash

A Learjet crashed into a residential street near Greenacres, Florida, on Sunday, killing all nine people aboard. A family representative confirmed the identities of the passengers in a statement posted on Facebook on Sunday. The group included Adam Robinson, Helen Sharp, their children Emma and Charlie, Rachael Reed, Charmi Fehr, and Anita Maria Cetina.

One pilot was identified as Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, a 20-year-old, by her mother. The identity of the second pilot has not yet been confirmed. The plane struck the street and exploded in a neighborhood close to West Palm Beach. The cause of the crash remains under investigation.

The National Transportation Safety Board held a news conference on Monday to outline the probe. Member Tom Chapman said investigators found evidence the aircraft started breaking up before it hit the ground. He noted that debris from the aircraft could be spread far and wide from the impact site.

"We do have some indication that the aircraft was breaking up before impact," Chapman said. "We may find parts of the aircraft some distance away from the actual impact site."

Aviation safety expert Jeff Guzzetti suggested key components of the jet’s tail may have been lost during turbulence or as the plane nose-dived. "If that happens, you cannot control an airplane at that point. And that very well could explain the missile-like profile just before it hit the ground," Guzzetti said. He is a former investigator for the NTSB and the Federal Aviation Administration.

Weather conditions are a major focus of the investigation. Rain pounded the region on Sunday, and one pilot reported icing conditions at high altitude in communications with air traffic control. FlightRadar24 combined radar maps with the flight path to show the plane flying directly into a rapidly expanding storm cell. Chapman said investigators must still determine the specific conditions at 35,000 feet.

The plane was originally equipped with a cockpit voice recorder that investigators hope to recover. NTSB investigator Timothy Monville described the scene work as a several-day process. "The biggest obstacle that we’re going to have is recovering the major wreckage from the impacted crater on the roadway," Monville said.