Investigators found part of the Florida Learjet’s tail more than a mile from the crater in South Florida, and Tom Chapman said that means the aircraft was breaking apart before it hit the ground. The finding came Tuesday as the National Transportation Safety Board continued its work on the crash that killed 9 people.
Tom Chapman on the tail
Chapman said the tail’s elevator was broken into three parts. He told a news conference, “The function of the elevator is to control the pitch up and down.”
He also said, “At those speeds I don't know that it would've been effective even if it had still been attached to the aircraft, but knowing that it was lost is a very important piece of evidence in terms of pointing us towards other things to investigate.”
Jeff Gregory in the cockpit
Jeff Gregory and Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras were in the cockpit of the Bahamas-bound Learjet 60 when it encountered bad weather and crashed in Greenacres on Sunday afternoon. Greenacres is about 7 miles southwest of West Palm Beach.
Minutes before the crash, Filgueiras told air traffic controllers that ice was accumulating on the plane and that severe turbulence had thrown it up and down by more than 700 feet. A man’s voice could be heard reciting the Lord’s Prayer in the background of her final radio transmissions, and friends were convinced the voice was Gregory’s.
Gregory and the recovery
Thomas Noetzel organized an online fundraiser to support Gregory’s wife and children. On the fundraising website GoFundMe, he wrote, “Jeff was a devoted, conscientious, and deeply faithful man who had a genuine passion for flying and a strong love for the Lord,”
April Honnen said East Coast Jets, Inc. learned that Captain Jeff Gregory was among those who lost their lives. She said, “We are deeply saddened to learn that Captain Jeff Gregory was among those who lost their lives” and added, “Our prayers go out to Jeff's family, his fellow crew member, the passengers and everyone affected by this heart breaking tragedy.”
The tail discovery narrows the investigation toward a breakup before ground impact, not just the crater the Learjet left behind. What caused the tail or elevator to separate before the aircraft hit the ground is now the question driving the wreckage review.
