Air traffic control audio and flight tracking data are revealing the doomed Learjet’s final minutes, tracing its path from takeoff in Austin, Texas, to its fatal plunge in Greenacres, Florida, where all nine people on board were killed.
Taken together, the records depict a flight crew contending with turbulence and icing before initiating a climb, only to experience an abrupt and violent descent almost immediately afterward, along with an overspeed warning and an in-flight breakup that investigators have yet to fully explain.
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Austin tech entrepreneur , 45, his wife, Helen Sharp, 40, and their children, Emma, 4, and Charlie, 2, along with the children’s nanny, Anita Maria Cetina, and couple Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr departed from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport on a Bombardier Learjet 60.
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The Learjet reaches cruise altitude at approximately 41,000 feet, according to flight data. No notable events occur for the next hour and a half.
While the Learjet is around 41,000 feet in the air, an air traffic controller advised the flight crew of moderate precipitation 5 miles away from them, and then said there were options to go to the left or right. The crew was then told to proceed to a waypoint near Naples, Florida.
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The flight crew asked about proceeding directly toward the Bahamas, which would take them across Florida. Air Traffic Control approved that route, but warned about moderate-to-extreme precipitation along that route and said the turn toward the Bahamas looked poor from a weather standpoint.
The Learjet flight crew altered their plan, and indicated it would turn toward Naples, Florida and then head toward the Bahamas.
Air Traffic Control instructed the Learjet to descend to 35,000 feet.
Air Traffic Control authorized left or right deviations for weather, telling the flight crew they can proceed toward the Bahamas when able to. Tracking indicates the plane headed further north toward Palm Beach County.
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The flight crew indicated that weather conditions are deteriorating, reporting to Air Traffic Control that there is icing and turbulence, asking the controller if there’s a “better ride” ahead.
The crew also reported they are beginning to experience precipitation, and asked to climb to 37,000 feet.
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The Learjet climbed to 35,450 feet versus the approved 37,000 fee
