Cockpit Recorder Recovered From Fatal Florida Learjet Crash

Investigators have recovered the cockpit voice recorder from the Learjet that went down in South Florida on November 1. The crash killed all nine people aboard the business jet, which was bound for the Bahamas. The National Transportation Safety Board said the recorder was found at the crash site in Palm Beach County and is now being examined at its laboratory in Washington, D.C.

Investigators are checking whether the device is operational and whether it captured audio. If its data can be retrieved, it could help establish what happened in the cockpit as the crew encountered severe weather. The co-pilot had told air traffic controllers the plane was being tossed up and down by more than 700 feet and requested a different route.

Investigators are also examining how the jet came to lose control after appearing to avoid a large storm cell and then encountering a smaller, rapidly developing one. Pieces of the tail’s elevator, the surface that adjusts the aircraft’s pitch, lay over a mile from the main impact crater, indicating the aircraft began breaking apart before it hit the ground.

The recorder’s condition has not been established. Investigators will also examine maintenance records and the aircraft’s history, and interview the flight operator, air traffic controllers and workers at the Austin airport where the jet took off.

The NTSB typically takes 12 to 18 months to finish an investigation, though complex cases can require more time.