Nine people were killed on Sunday when a Learjet 60 departing Austin for the Bahamas crashed in Palm Beach County, Florida. The impact left a fiery crater in the ground, killing all nine people aboard.
Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board have discovered aircraft parts located far from the impact site. While some pieces were found more than a mile away, other debris was located nearly four miles, or over six kilometres, from the crash site.
NTSB member Tom Chapman stated during a news conference on Tuesday that the discovery of tail parts broken into three pieces confirms the plane was breaking apart before it hit the ground. Among the wreckage found over six kilometres away was most of the left elevator, which is the part of the tail that controls the plane's pitch.