Important pieces from the tail of the doomed Learjet that crashed Sunday in Florida, killing all 9 people on board, had already separated from the aircraft before it hit the ground, investigators said.
The plane’s left elevator – a piece on the tail used to move it up and down – was found in three pieces in a range of around 1.3 to 3.8 miles from the accident site, National Transportation Safety Board spokesperson Thomas B. Chapman told a press conference Tuesday.
“It tells us that at least some components, some pieces of the aircraft, 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, or whether the loss of this piece was a result of the forces on the aircraft, we don’t know yet. It’s going to take some more analysis.”
Here’s the latest on the fatal Learjet crash in Florida
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
