Florida plane crash. Brother, 2, and sister, 4, among the victims
Details continue to emerge about the Learjet plane crash that killed nine in South Florida, including the identities of a young co-pilot and seven passengers aboard the plane.
The private jet, bound from Austin, Texas, to the Bahamas, plummeted into the ground at Military Trail and Cresthaven Boulevard near Greenacres and exploded into a fireball. The impact sent debris flying, crushing cars, cutting power, damaging a water main and displacing an estimated 600 people from nearby mobile homes.
Federal officials sent a team of specialists to South Florida on Monday to begin investigating the cause of the crash. Follow along for updates throughout the day.
'Did someone shoot a missile?' One man recalls sound of plane crash
Valentina Palm
Doug Schram, who lives along Cresthaven Road about a half mile from the crash site, was home when he heard the sound of a plane flying unusually low.
Then came a loud boom.
The power in Scharm's house went out for about 10 seconds. When his TV and light went dark, he rushed outside and found his neighbor.
"God, did someone shoot a missile or drone over my house?" Scharm recalls thinking.
His neighbor was stunned by what he had just seen.
“He goes, ‘Oh my God! There was a mushroom cloud of smoke and fire there’ ” Scharm said.
The explosion was so loud that Scharm and his neighbor wondered whether it could have been a missile headed toward President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach. Schram said his neighbor also saw what appeared to be military helicopters heading in the direction of the crash.
Minutes later, they began hearing sirens approaching from miles away. Neighbors running up the street told them it appeared a plane had crashed onto Military Trail.
Schram said he was shocked when he saw the crater left in the roadway.
NASA administrator defends copilot's actions before fatal crash
Valentina Palm
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman on Nov. 2 defended Filgueiras on his personal X account, pushing back against online criticism of the 20-year-old co-pilot.
Isaacman pointed out Filgueiras was the second-in-command aboard the private jet and was communicating with air traffic controllers shortly before the crash.
In the recording, a person in the cockpit said the crew was "managing the ice," encountering "moderate" turbulence and seeking "better rides," according to audio posted by LiveATC, a website that broadcasts air traffic control communications.
"She was doing her job, communicating with ATC right to the end in a terrifying situation," Isaacman wrote on X, in remarks first published by Florida Today. "She likely knew before many of those calls that she was going to die."
Isaacman cautioned the public against drawing conclusions about what caused the crash before investigators complete their works. He wrote that key questions remain unanswered including the aircraft's history, whether it suffered structural damage and if turbulence and other factors played a role in the crash.
Florida plane crash victims' families break silence
Hannah Phillips
A family of four, their nanny and a couple were among the nine people killed in the Learjet 60 plane crash near Greenacres on Nov. 1.
Their relatives issued a joint statement Monday identifying all passengers aboard the private plane as Adam Robinson, 45, his wife, Helen Sharp, 40, and their children, Emma, 2, and Charlie, 4; the children's nanny Anita Maria Cetina; and another couple, Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr.
"We are deeply grateful to the first responders, investigators, and the Palm Beach County community for their care, and to everyone who has reached out with love," the families wrote in a post to Facebook. "Our hearts are also with the families of the pilots, who are grieving alongside us."
No timeline to reopen Military Trail or name crash victims
Andrew Marra
Officials said it wasn’t clear when the closed stretch of Military Trail might be reopened. Not only will the NTSB have to finish its investigation first, but the crash site will have to be repaired, and engineers will have to inspect the surrounding road to ensure it's structurally sound.
Authorities also provided no timeline for releasing the identities of the crash victims, many of whom have already been identified by grieving relatives. Abruzzo said it would likely be a long time before the office released the names, citing efforts to positively identify remains using DNA.
“There’s some DNA that needs to be matched,” he said. “It’s a lengthy process.”
County asks DeSantis to declare emergency after plane crash
Andrew Marra
County Administrator Joe Abruzzo said he has asked Gov. Ron DeSantis to approve an executive order declaring a state of emergency, making the county eligible for funds to help support displaced residents and nearby businesses.
“We recognize that this area may be closed for quite a bit of time,” Abruzzo said, adding that “there’s evidence everywhere.”
Abruzzo said there are no safety concerns regarding the area but that the mobile home park remains closed off so federal investigators can continue collecting debris and evidence related to the crash.
“The evidence has to be collected,” he said. “That’s paramount.”
No return date for hundreds evacuated near plane crash site
Andrew Marra
Palm Beach County officials said Monday they do not know when hundreds of people evacuated from the mobile home park next to the crash site can return.
With no date in sight, County Commissioner Joel Flores said he has asked county administrators to explore temporary housing for the displaced families. Several dozen people are in a shelter, and others are staying with relatives.
Flores added that many evacuees were cut off from their homes while out on the street watching the crash site. Many weren’t able to return to collect personal belongings or their vehicles, which many use as part of their jobs as contractors or tradesmen.
“They’re without cars, without food,” he said.
Neighbor recalls crash & boom: 'I thought, is this freaking Iran?'
Chris Persaud
Armando Perez, a nighttime truck driver, was lying in bed when a supersonic boom jolted him up straight.
"I thought, 'is this freaking Iran?'" Perez said. The force shook his body like a gigantic subwoofer. "That's when the screaming and crying" from his alarmed neighbors started, he said.
Perez, his mother and his stepfather were among hundreds of residents near the crash site who were put on Palm Tran buses and driven to the Greenacres Community Center on Swain Boulevard, south of 10th Avenue North.
They had only enough time to grab two days' worth of clothes, along with their phones, shoes, passports, wallets and a blanket for their 3-year-old chihuahua, Chupita. Mobile home park residents were ordered to evacuate without their cars.
Officials 'very hopeful' for black box recovery
Andrew Marra
Investigators are hoping to recover a black box from the flight that could contain voice recordings shedding light on the moments before the crash. Despite the name, the units are usually bright orange so searchers can find them in wreckage.
Manufacturers build them to survive severe impact, fire and deep water.
“We’re very hopeful that we can recover it,” said NTSB board member Tom Chapman.
Authorities said it was too early to say how long the investigation would take or how long a mobile home-park near the crash site would remain closed.
Plane may have broken apart before impact, officials say
Andrew Marra
As they comb through a half-mile radius of debris one day after the crash, investigators are looking into whether the plane began to come apart in the air.
“We do have some evidence that there was some breaking up of the airplane before impact,” said NTSB board member Tom Chapman.
Federal aviation investigators were battling the elements Monday as they worked to salvage parts from the aircraft spread over a half-mile debris field. The crater where the plane struck the ground has been filling with water amid the heavy rains, complicating the investigation.
“There’s water in the crater,” Chapman said. “There will definitely be some challenges.”
Weather a 'major focus' in plane crash investigation
Andrew Marra
The crew’s report of ice and sub-zero temperatures in the atmosphere above a stormy South Florida is “a major focus” of the ongoing investigation, an NTSB official said.
The plane’s crew radioed moments before the crash to report clear ice and air temperatures of negative 53 degrees Fahrenheit, though they said at the time the ice was “manageable,” an NTSB official said.
“The weather conditions are a major factor of the investigation,” NTSB board member Tom Chapman said at a Nov. 2 news conference.
Co-pilot Nathalia Filgueiras 'fought until the last moment,' sister says
Arianna Otero
In an interview outside her Boca Raton home — already a magnet for local and national reporters — the sister of Nathalia Filgueiras said the 20-year-old co-pilot "fought until the last moment she could."
Giulia Filgueiras, 21, said Nathalia was a brave, "amazing girl" who always followed her dreams. She wanted to be a pilot since she was 12, Giulia Filgueiras said, and "showed any girl could do what it takes."
Husband, wife and two children among victims, families say
Hannah Phillips
A married couple and their two toddlers were among the nine on the Learjet 60 plane that crashed in Palm Beach County on Sunday, according to a Texas father.
“It’s quite a blow," said Dudley Sharp, 70. “We had a daughter, her husband and two grandchildren on the plane.”
Sharp, reached briefly by phone, said his family is still gathering details about the crash that killed his 40-year-old daughter, Helen Sharp, her 45-year-old husband, Adam Robinson, and their young children. Robinson's father, 77-year-old Theodore, confirmed his son's identity but said authorities have not yet formally notified them of his passing.
Social-media accounts for both husband and wife suggest the two were entrepreneurs. One was a potter and the owner of a public relations company. The other was a software founder who posted to his LinkedIn shortly before the crash.
Homes and cars crushed, hundreds displaced
Chris Persaud
About 100 homes near the Learjet crash site in Greenacres have been evacuated, County Commissioner Joel Flores said. He estimated between 400 and 600 people have been displaced.
The Red Cross is coordinating efforts to care for them at the Greenacres Community Center. Flores said the county is looking into providing hotel vouchers for displaced residents, as well as PalmTran bus vouchers for those whose cars were crushed by debris.
Officials have not yet determined the full scope of the damage, Flores said.
Meteorologist: Learjet flew toward disaster
Kimberly Miller
Experts who reviewed flight data and radar say the Learjet 60 that crashed near Greenacres on Sunday flew into a fast-growing thunderstorm.
Meteorologist Matthew Cappucci said the storm’s clouds shot up 15,000 feet in 20 minutes and reached 48,300 feet tall by the time of the crash at 12:50 p.m. At 12:48 p.m., the first officer asked to climb from 35,000 feet to 37,000 feet, citing more precipitation. The mayday call came about 20 seconds later.
Read the full report:A Florida thunderstorm exploded skyward as a Learjet flew toward disaster
GoFundMe for the victims' loved ones?
Hannah Phillips
Talk of fundraisers for the families of the Learjet tragedy quickly spread online in the wake of the crash. However, Chris Salvemini, a spokesperson for the online platform GoFundMe, said Monday morning the site had not yet received a verified fundraiser related to the crash.
Palm Beach bishop dedicates All Souls' Day Mass to Learjet crash victims
Valentina Palm
Bishop Manuel de Jesus Rodríguez of the Diocese of Palm Beach dedicated an All Souls' Day Mass on Monday to the nine people who died in Sunday's Learjet crash near Greenacres.
The bishop celebrated the mass at Our Lady Queen of Peace Cemetery in Royal Palm Beach, 7 miles northwest of the crash site.
“As a community of faith, we mourn alongside those who are grieving and unite in prayer for all who have been affected,” Rodriguez said in a prepared statement.
“I am especially grateful to our firefighters, law enforcement officers, emergency personnel and all first responders for their courageous and selfless service during this difficult time.”
Relatives ID co-pilot as 20-year-old Boca Raton woman
Hannah Phillips
Authorities have not confirmed the names of those aboard the Learjet 60. However, in a statement to the New York Post, a mother and stepfather identified a co-pilot aboard the plane as 20-year-old Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras.
Filgueiras, whose social media accounts include a photograph of her inside the cockpit of a Learjet 60, grew up in Palm Beach County. She earned her private pilot’s license at 17 as a West Boca Raton High School senior, before she had a driver’s license. She told the West Palm Beach TV station CBS12 at the time her dream was to become a commercial airline pilot.
NTSB investigators flock to crash site
Tom Elia
The National Transportation Safety Board, an arm of the U.S. government, announced Monday that a team of specialists is en route to the crash site to gather evidence and begin investigating. A spokesperson also said the agency will hold a news conference in West Palm Beach, though they have not yet released the time or place.
As of 7:30 a.m. Monday, authorities had not released the names of those who died. DeSantis said there had been no reports of anyone on the ground either killed or injured by the debris.