Investigators have found part of the tail of the Learjet that crashed in South Florida more than a mile from the impact crater, PBS NewsHour reports. NTSB board member Tom Chapman told a news conference on Tuesday that the discovery confirms the aircraft was breaking up before it hit the ground.
Chapman said the tail's elevator, which controls the plane's pitch, had broken into three pieces, meaning the pilots could not have pulled the jet out of its dive, though he said it might not have helped at that speed. He called the loss of the part an important piece of evidence pointing to further lines of inquiry. Recordings released earlier show the co-pilot reported ice building up and severe turbulence moments before the crash. Officials have also said that footage of the crash circulating online is genuine, not AI-generated.
Source: PBS NewsHour