PALM BEACH COUNTY, Florida.- The National Transportation Safety Board confirmed on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, that most of the Palm Beach Learjet's left elevator — the tail control surface that moves the aircraft up and down — separated from the jet before it crashed, after investigators recovered it in three pieces between 1.3 and 3.8 miles from the impact site in Greenacres. NTSB member Tom Chapman called the find "a very significant bit of evidence" at the agency's final on-site briefing into the Sunday crash that killed all nine people aboard the Bahamas-bound Learjet 60, and said there is no evidence connecting the crash to nearby security operations at Mar-a-Lago, calling any link "purely coincidence."
"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, according to USA TODAY. "Those items are being retained for analysis." The discovery goes further than Monday's update, when Chapman said only that there was evidence of some breakup before impact: investigators now say at least one important tail component definitely came off in flight, although they have not determined whether its separation caused the loss of control or resulted from the forces acting on the jet as it descended. Chapman added that he did not believe the elevator would have let the aircraft recover even if it had stayed attached, given the speed of the descent, as reported by Fox News.
What investigators found, and what they still do not know
The Learjet 60, registration N722BD, departed Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas at 10:37 a.m. ET on Sunday, November 1, bound for North Eleuthera in the Bahamas, and crashed at about 12:50 p.m. ET beside Military Trail at Cresthaven Boulevard, leaving a water-filled crater in the road. The crew had reported ice building up at about 35,000 feet and moderate turbulence, asked to climb for better conditions, and then issued a mayday call as the jet began descending — first at about 10,000 feet per minute, then faster, with flight-tracking data showing a descent rate at one point above 32,000 feet per minute. Weather remains a central focus of the investigation, and Chapman stressed that it is still too early to determine a probable cause.
Investigators have begun draining the crater and expect to reach it on Wednesday, where they hope to find critical components, including the cockpit voice recorder. Records show such a device was installed on the aircraft at some point, but investigators do not yet know whether it was still on board before the crash. Tuesday's briefing was the NTSB's final one on site; further updates will be posted on the agency's website. Military Trail remains closed in both directions between 10th Avenue North and Purdy Lane, and about 600 residents near the crash site were evacuated after the crash, with 40 to 50 of them staying at the Greenacres Community Center, according to The Palm Beach Post. Officials urged anyone who finds debris to leave it untouched and contact the NTSB or local authorities.
The nine people killed were the seven passengers identified by their families — tech entrepreneur Adam Robinson, his wife Helen Sharp, their children Emma, 2, and Charlie, 4, Rachael Reed, Charmi Fehr and the children's nanny, Anita Maria Cetina — and the two pilots, Captain Jeff Gregory and 20-year-old co-pilot Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, who earned her pilot's licence at 17. One man on the ground suffered a leg injury. The aircraft was operated by Aurora Airlines, doing business as Upper Jets, which said it is cooperating with authorities.
Read more on The Wire Post: Private Jet Crash in Florida: Adam Robinson, Wife Helen Sharp and Their Two Toddlers Among Nine Killed as Learjet 60 Plunges Into a Palm Beach Street and NTSB Says the Palm Beach Learjet May Have Broken Apart Before Killing Adam Robinson and Eight Others.
Fuentes: NTSB vía USA TODAY, The Palm Beach Post y Fox News, 3 de noviembre de 2026. Foto de portada: el propio avión N722BD fotografiado en 2024, vía Wikimedia Commons, con bandera de EE. UU. en esquina.