Learjet crashes in Florida with nine people killed

A private jet crashed near West Palm Beach, Florida, on November 1, killing all nine people on board. The Learjet 60 fell around 27,000 feet in just one minute before it hit the ground.

Three minutes before the crash, the pilot reported light ice on the aircraft and manageable turbulence. Shortly after, he made a mayday call, and his voice sounded increasingly panicked. The plane had passed through a strong storm cell before it began to fall.

Ice can change the shape of a wing, making it hard to control the aircraft. Planes have systems to remove ice, but these can fail in very severe conditions. The outside air temperature at the time was -47 degrees Celsius. Twenty investigators from the NTSB arrived at the scene on Sunday evening.