A piece of a Learjet that crashed in Florida, killing all nine people on board, fell through the roof of a local woman's home before the aircraft impacted the ground. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is investigating the incident, which saw the plane plummet at a rate of 20,000 feet per minute on Sunday.
Ana Escobar told WPBF that a suspected piece of the aircraft crashed through her roof, less than a mile from the crash site, leaving a large hole and damaging her insulation. The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office collected the item as evidence. The NTSB confirmed it recovered three pieces of the jet's left elevator, which is crucial for controlling the aircraft's pitch, between one and four miles from the crash site.
Investigators believe severe weather was a significant factor in the crash. NTSB officials stated that the pilots had requested to gain 2,000 feet of elevation when they encountered a thunderstorm. Moments before the plane began its rapid descent, the co-pilot reported that ice was accumulating on the aircraft and that it was experiencing severe turbulence, with altitude changes of more than 700 feet.
In her final transmissions to air traffic control, the co-pilot, Nathalia Filgueiras, 20, could be heard screaming, "We're going to die!" as the jet banked 60 degrees. The pilot, Jeff Gregory, 55, was heard reciting the Lord's Prayer in the background.
Among the nine victims were tech tycoon Adam Robinson, 45, his wife Helen Sharp, 40, their two young children, Emma, 4, and Charlie, 2, Robinson's friends Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr, and the children's nanny, Anita Maria Cetina. The family was traveling from Austin, Texas, to the Bahamas for Robinson's birthday.