BOCA RATON, Fla. – A routine request to fly higher aboard a Learjet became panic within seconds, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Around 12:50 p.m. local time Sunday, the pilot asked controllers for a higher altitude as a storm produced ice and turbulence. She said the crew was handling the ice and picking up precipitation, but conditions then changed.
A radio recording from LiveATC.net, captured the pilot's alarmed voice. "Mayday, mayday, we're descending 10,000 feet per minute," she called out.
The jet then stopped climbing and nosedived, accelerating every second. "Declare an emergency," she shrieked. "We are in an overspeed condition descending 20,000 feet per minute!"
Banked at 60 degrees, she said, "We are going to crash into the ground." Then came a last scream: "Holy f– we're out of time."
Footage shows the jet nosediving onto a Palm Beach County road, killing all nine aboard and injuring a driver. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said the aircraft appeared to break apart in the air, scattering debris half a mile.
NTSB member Thomas Chapman said weather is a major focus, along with how pilots and controllers chose the flight path.
Chapman said, "The factual details of how this transpired is exactly what we're trying to determine." He added, "Who knew what and when and what actions were taken and whether those actions were appropriate."
The jet left Austin-Bergstrom International Airport on Sunday morning, headed for the Bahamas. A major storm system with strong updrafts, heavy precipitation and icing covered southern Florida. As the jet neared the east coast, a thunderstorm ahead intensified.
The pilot requested a climb, and soon the jet began descending quickly, prompting a mayday call. The aircraft went down about a minute later.
Seven passengers and two crew members were flying from Austin, Texas, to Eleuthera Island. Co-pilot Nathalia Filgueiras, 20, died, her stepfather Thiago Corteleti said. Corteleti said Monday, "All we know is that our daughter is down there, under the ground with that airplane."
Relatives named Adam Robinson, Helen Sharp, their children, Anita Maria Cetina, Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr as the others aboard.
Aurora Aviation, doing business as Upper Jets, operated the Learjet 60, and a company representative said it is cooperating with the investigation.
AirNav Systems cited moderate to severe icing near the jet's path. Aviation safety experts called the thunderstorm critical and questioned why the crew entered it.
Jeff Guzzetti, a former top US aircraft accident investigator, said, "The airplane was seen to have entered a very powerful, isolated thunderstorm that was high as to where that airplane was flying." He added, "Typically, these business jets can fly over the weather. But in this case, this weather was building up so much that it was reaching some very high altitudes."
Icing at such altitudes is rare, and rapid ice buildup from rising air can cost a plane lift and control, experts said.
John Cox, an aviation safety consultant and former airline pilot union official, said, "You can accumulate ice really quickly that way, but if you are in an airplane – a jet particularly – and you see liquid water like that, it is a real big red flag that this is very unusual and very, very dangerous."
Guzzetti said the design may have made the jet vulnerable, adding, "It was still certified to fly in certain conditions, but those conditions may have been exceeded." Bombardier, which owns Learjet, declined to comment.
Chapman said investigators would compare similar crashes, and that a cockpit voice recorder was installed though its presence is unclear. According to the aviation experts, recovery after the descent began would have been difficult, perhaps impossible, especially if aerodynamic loads destroyed parts of the structure.
