A private Learjet 60 crashed on Military Trail in Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday, killing all nine people on board, according to the BBC. The plane was bound for the Bahamas from Austin, Texas, when it nosedived into a multi-lane highway and exploded on impact, the report says.
A joint statement from the family named the seven passengers: tech entrepreneur Adam Robinson, his wife Helen Sharp, and their two children, Emma, four, and Charlie, two. It also named Rachael Reed, Charmi Fehr and Anita Maria Cetina. The family described Robinson and Sharp as "devoted parents" and said Cetina "cared for Emma and Charlie with tenderness and devotion."
Media reports named the pilot as Jeffery Gregory and the copilot as Nathalia Filgueiras, 20. A spokesperson for East Coast Jets, where Gregory used to work, confirmed his death. Filgueiras's mother, Camila Corteleti, confirmed her daughter died, telling the New York Times, "She loved the freedom."
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said investigators believe parts of the aircraft may have broken off before impact. Lead investigator Tim Monville said the main obstacle is recovering major wreckage from a crater on the roadway, which was partially filled with water from severe storms. Heavy rain and thunderstorms had been reported in the area at the time of the crash. Investigators are also trying to determine whether a cockpit voice recorder was on board and can be recovered.
Air traffic control audio, the report says, captured a crew member reporting "moderate turbulence" and "managing the ice," followed by a call that the plane was descending at 10,000 feet per minute. An emergency was declared, and the voice can be heard saying, "we are going to crash into the ground." One man in a car on the ground sustained a leg injury.