Investigators sifting through the wreckage of the Learjet plane that nose-dived in South Florida on Nov. 1 have recovered the aircraft’s cockpit voice recorder (CVR), a potentially critical piece in determining what caused the crash that killed all nine people aboard.
“The CVR was located at the site of initial impact,” the National Transportation Safety Board said in a statement on X late Monday, Nov. 9, announcing the finding. “The CVR is being evaluated in the NTSB Vehicle Recorders Laboratory in Washington, D.C. The excavation work at the impact site has been completed.”
Investigators hope the newly discovered piece will contain communications between the pilots and air-traffic controllers before the jet’s rapid descent, which began at about 12:45 p.m. on Nov. 1. Discovery of the piece comes nearly 10 days after the jet bound from Austin, Texas, for the Bahamas went down amid heavy rain and thunderstorms.
The plane nose-dived at about 300 mph and exploded into a fireball upon a busy Palm Beach County roadway minutes later. In a haunting audio recording between the cockpit and air traffic controllers, the flight crew can be heard describing the plane hurtling toward the ground out of control.
NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy put out a statement asking people in the area to share any additional debris from the scene.
“If you have found or collected any debris from the crash site near Greenacres, please do not keep it or attempt to move, alter or dispose of it,” Homendy said. “Recovering all available wreckage is critical to the investigation and helping to determine the cause of the crash.”
USA TODAY reached out to the NTSB for further information on what investigators hope to learn from the CVR and how long it will take to analyze the device.
Officials have been trying to piece together what happened in the days since the deadly crash. The discovery of the voice recorder follows an announcement on Nov. 8 that NTSB officials had recovered both the plane’s wings and engines.
Despite the initial progress, determining what caused the crash will likely take time. The NTSB generally aims to complete an investigation within one to two years, according to its website, but certain factors can affect that timing.
The fiery crash sent shockwaves through a nearby mobile home community, leaving residents scrambling to evacuate from their homes and wondering whether they were under attack. Witnesses described a thunderous boom that shook homes, briefly knocked out power and sent neighbors rushing outside.
A harrowing audio recording of one person in the cockpit making a desperate Mayday call and another reciting the Lord’s Prayer during the flight’s final seconds has rocked the nation. About 35 seconds after the initial distress call, the final cockpit transmission came: “We’re out of time.”
In the days following the crash, loved ones identified the nine people killed on board as a Texas family of four and their nanny, a couple who were “full of joy and adventure,” and two beloved pilots, sparking an outpouring of grief. The tragedy also raised questions about what caused the flight crew to lose control of the aircraft, and drew criticism of the pilots, prompting members of the aviation community to caution against a rush to judgment.
Contributing: Ramon Padilla, Jennifer Borresen, Stephen J. Beard, Veronica Bravo, George Petras, Natalie Neysa Alund, Christopher Cann and Thao Nguyen, USA TODAY; John Bisognano, Tom Elia, Arianna Otero and Valentina Palm, The Palm Beach Post
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Voice recorder from fatal Florida jet crash found, NTSB says
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