Parts of jet that crashed in Palm Beach County found miles away, NTSB says

A significant piece of the Learjet that crashed in Florida, claiming nine lives, was discovered nearly 4 miles away from the impact site on Tuesday, investigators announced. The National Transportation Safety Board member Tom Chapman revealed that most of the left elevator, a vital component controlling the plane's pitch, was found in three pieces scattered between 1.3 miles and 3.8 miles from Greenacres, near West Palm Beach, the location where the aircraft crashed on Sunday afternoon.

"What that means, in terms of what caused the aircraft to lose control or whether the loss of this piece was a result of the forces on the aircraft, we don't know yet," Chapman stated at a press conference. The absence of the intact elevator would have prevented the pilot from pulling the Learjet out of its nosedive, according to Chapman.

"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," he added. Experts believe the broken-off components were likely a result of the nosedive rather than the cause, as aviation safety expert Jeff Guzzetti told The Associated Press.

The discovery of these parts within a few miles of the crash site indicates they likely fell off closer to the ground, not at high altitude, he explained. The Learjet departed from Austin, Texas, carrying nine passengers, including technology entrepreneur Adam Robinson, his wife Helen Sharp, their two young children, and co-pilot Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras.

Jeff Gregory, 55, a resident of the Philadelphia suburbs and a former crew member in the cockpit, was one of the two individuals in the plane at the time of the crash. Witnesses reported hearing a man's voice reciting the Lord's Prayer in the final radio transmissions from the co-pilot to air traffic control as the plane plummeted.

Friends are convinced that Gregory, a devoted aviator, husband, and father, was the man heard praying. Thomas Noetzel, the director of operations at the company that operated the flight, organized an online fundraiser to support Gregory's family. Noetzel described Gregory as a "devoted, conscientious, and deeply faithful man who had a genuine passion for flying and a strong love for the Lord."

The Learjet struck the ground with such force that it created a crater before exploding into flames. Around 600 nearby residents were displaced by the disaster, and only one person on the ground was reported injured. The investigation has been ongoing, with authorities scouring the area for wreckage, collecting dashcam footage, and interviewing witnesses.

After days of heavy rain, investigators plan to inspect the crater on Wednesday, hoping to recover crucial components of the plane. Chapman reiterated that weather conditions were being closely examined as part of the investigation. While a preliminary NTSB report is expected in about a month, a comprehensive determination of the probable cause of the crash is likely to take more than a year.