Warning: This article contains content which some readers may find distressing
On Sunday (1 November), a private jet crashed into a South Florida neighbourhood and killed all nine people on board.
A big fiery crater was left in a road in the aftermath, as the Learjet 60 erupted into a ball of flames.
The small plane was flying from Texas to the Bahamas with seven passengers, identified as Adam Robinson, 45, his wife, Helen Sharp, 40, and their two children, Emma, two, and Charlie, four as well as their children’s nanny Anita Maria Cetina; and another couple, Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr.
With audio capturing their final words, Jeff Gregory, 55, was the pilot with 20-year-old Nathalia Filgueiras as co-pilot. And as more information comes out, extended audio reveals the chilling warning they were given just moments before the crash.
All nine on board died. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
According to air traffic control recordings from LiveATC.com, Gregory and Fliguerias were alerted to the weather conditions as they approached the area.
An air traffic control official told the Lerjet 60 crew: “N772BD, the turn to Freeport looks pretty bad.
“There is a moderate to extreme precipitation at 11 o’clock and 25 miles, 100 miles in diameter.”
Confirming they’d got the message, Filgueiras said: “Roger, we’ll look at it.”
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said it would be investigating to what extent ice and turbulence may have been contributing factors as the region experienced bad weather.
Air traffic controllers told the crew they were working them into their airspace as the co-pilot asked if there were ‘any better rides’.
Control replied: “N2BD, the ride should improve in my airspace. You’re kinda far outside of it right now. You can expect better rides ahead.”
The plane was heading east at 35,000 feet when the pilot started reporting problems, and said ice was accumulating on the jet and that turbulence was jolting it by as much as 700 feet.
Tech boss Adam Robinson was killed alongside his wife Helen Sharp and their two children Emma and Charlie. (Family handout)
“We have light, clear ice that is manageable and moderate turbulence,” the pilot told controllers.
There was then a request for permission to climb higher before an emergency was declared and the jet lost altitude rapidly.
“We’re descending 8,000 — mayday, mayday — we’re descending 10,000 feet per minute,” the pilot said.
“We are in an overspeed condition descending 20,000 feet per minute,” the recording plays out, as the pilot then delivered a devastating acknowledgment wof what was about to happen.
“We’re going to crash into the ground.”
The NTSB is working with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and representatives from Learjet alongside meteorologists and air traffic control experts as part of the ‘lengthy investigatory process’ into the cause.
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