Pieces of jet that crashed in Palm Beach County found miles away from impact site, NTSB says

Updated on: November 3, 2026 / 4:07 PM EST / CBS/AP

Pieces of the jet that crashed in Palm Beach County on Sunday, killing nine people, were found nearly 4 miles away from the crash site, investigators said Tuesday.

National Transportation Safety Board member Tom Chapman said during a news conference that the discovery of a part of the tail located that far from the impact crater was an indication the plane was likely breaking up before it hit the ground.

He said parts of the plane were located as far as 3.8 miles from the impact site.

Chapman said the tail's elevator was broken into three parts. Without that intact, the pilots would not have been able to pull the Learjet 60 out of its nosedive.

"The function of the elevator is to control the pitch up and down," he said. "At those speeds I don't know that it would've been effective even if it had still been attached to the aircraft, but knowing that it was lost is a very important piece of evidence in terms of pointing us towards other things to investigate."

Chapman acknowledged Monday that parts of the jet likely started to break off before…

Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/entertainment/