Florida Learjet crash killed nine; NTSB still searching for cockpit recorder

The Learjet 60 crashed in Palm Beach County, Florida, killing co-pilot Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras and eight other people. Her father, Allan Filgueiras, discussed her final radio transmissions at a Friday news conference. [1][2]

In the recording, Filgueiras first told air traffic control that ice was building on the aircraft as it flew into a thunderstorm. Turbulence then moved the plane up and down by about 700 feet, according to the report. [1][2]

The emergency intensified as the aircraft entered an overspeed condition and descended at 20,000 feet per minute. The reported transmission declared an emergency but did not establish why the aircraft began the rapid descent. [1][2]

The NTSB had not determined the crash cause. The aircraft accelerated beyond its design limits, pieces of its tail were found miles from the crater beside a road, and investigators were still searching the area. [1][2]

Investigators found part of an engine on the day before the report, but the cockpit recorder remained missing. Without the recorder, a key source of cockpit and aircraft-system information was unavailable to investigators at that stage. [1][2]