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NTSB Board Member Thomas Chapman briefs news media on Nov. 3, 2026, following a fatal Learjet 60 crash two days earlier in Greenacres, Florida.
Safety investigators recovered most of the left elevator of the Learjet 60 that crashed Nov. 1 in Greenacres, Florida, killing nine people, NTSB officials said.
NTSB Board Member Thomas Chapman said Nov. 3 the discovery indicated that parts of the aircraft separated inflight before it hit the ground.
“[On Nov. 2], the majority of the aircraft's left elevator was located in three pieces within a range of about 1.3 to 3.8 mi. from the accident site,” Chapman told reporters gathered at the Palm Beach County Emergency Operations Center.
The elevator is a movable flight control surface mounted to the trailing edge of the horizontal stabilizer at the tail of the aircraft, used to control pitch.
“It tells us that at least some components, important pieces of the aircraft, separated before the impact,” Chapman said. “What that means exactly in terms of what caused the aircraft to lose control and whether the loss of this piece was a result of the forces on the aircraft, we don't know yet.”
The 22-year-old Learjet 60, serial number 271, was owned by L60271 LLC and operated by Aurora Aviation, doing business as Upper Jets. Operating a Part 135 charter flight, the aircraft took off from Austin Bergstrom International Airport, Texas, en route to North Eleuthera Airport in the Bahamas carrying two crew and seven passengers, including two children.
The aircraft crashed into a road near a mobile home park Nov. 1 after plunging at high speed from 35,000 ft. Both pilots and all passengers were killed; one person on the ground suffered a leg injury.
Weather conditions at altitude, turbulence and possible structural failure are among factors the NTSB is investigating as potential causes.
Leading a second briefing in the aftermath of the accident, which he said would be the NTSB's last onsite briefing, Chapman reported that investigators hoped to gain access Nov. 4 to a large crater caused by the crash impact. Public works crews were draining water from the crater after first removing an unstable utility pole.
“We expect to find critical airplane components within the crater,” Chapman said, while cautioning that the force of the impact severely damaged the wreckage.
During the NTSB's first briefing on Nov. 2, Chapman said maintenance records indicated that the 22-year-old twinjet had been fitted with a cockpit voice recorder, but it was not known whether the device was installed at the time of the accident or could be recovered from the accident site.
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