Learjet’s parts may have broken off before Florida crash: Investigators

A small aircraft that crashed in Florida on Sunday likely partially broke apart in the air before taking a nosedive, a federal investigator said Monday, according to The Associated Press.

A business Learjet crashed just before 1 p.m. EST in Cresthaven, Fla., near Palm Beach, after departing from Austin, Texas, and was en route to the Bahamas, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The crash killed all nine people on board.

The jet burst into flames upon impact and left a wide crater in the ground. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has opened a probe into the deadly crash and is focusing on the weather conditions at the time that may have created a wider debris field for investigation, the NTSB said Monday.

The pilot of the aircraft first reported problems at about 35,000 feet, and investigators will look into what the weather conditions were at that altitude, the investigator told the AP.

Victims of the crash include Austin businessman Adam Robinson, 45, his wife, Helen Sharp, and their two children, ages 4 and 2, the Austin American-Statesman reported . Other victims include two friends of Robinson and Sharp as well as their nanny.

The pilots of the Learjet 60 were identified as Jeff Gregory, age 55, and the copilot, Nathalia Filgueiras, age 20, The New York Times reported .

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy called for prayers for the victims after the crash.

“Please join me in praying for the families and loved ones of those we lost,” he wrote in a post to the social platform X. “@FAANews & @USDOT are closely monitoring this crash and will share updates as we learn more.”

Concerns over plane safety have been on the rise after the high-profile midair collision at Reagan Washington National Airport in January 2025, which killed 67 people.

But a CNN analysis of NTSB data found that, as of June 2025, air travel was not less safe than in previous years, and the safety record has actually improved over the years. Air travel is still much safer than other forms of transportation, accounting for around zero percent of annual travel fatalities in the analysis.

One area where air travel does fall short is a shortage of air traffic controllers.

A report from the Government Accountability Office in early 2026 found a shortage of air traffic controllers despite increased applications, driven by government shutdowns and the pandemic. The FAA unveiled a new plan in May to mitigate the staffing shortage, aiming to expand education programs and hiring.