NTSB recovers cockpit voice recorder from Learjet crash that killed all nine in Florida

Recorder found at the crash site

The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has recovered the cockpit voice recorder from a Learjet 60 that crashed on 1 November in Greenacres, Florida, near Mar-a-Lago, the private residence of US President Donald Trump. Investigators found the device at the point of first impact, and it is now being evaluated at the agency's laboratory in Washington. It is not yet known whether the recorder works or holds any audio. The NTSB has not given a timetable for naming the cause of the crash.

Aviation safety expert Jeff Guzzetti, speaking to the Associated Press, said the recorder looked to be in decent shape in photographs the NTSB posted online. He noted a January 2025 case in Philadelphia, where a medical transport plane crashed and killed seven people, and said the recorder recovered from that aircraft was likely not functioning for several years.

“It's very plausible that any info on the recorder survived.”

Final minutes of the flight

All nine people on board died: a married couple, their two children aged two and four, the family's nanny, two friends of the family, a 55-year-old man who was the pilot, and a 20-year-old woman who was the co-pilot. The jet had taken off in Texas and was bound for the Bahamas. According to investigators, the crew first reported turbulence and icing, then asked to climb higher because of precipitation. Shortly afterwards the crew announced a descent to a lower altitude and made an emergency call.

Air traffic control transmissions reportedly captured the co-pilot saying the aircraft was descending from 22,000 feet and, in another transmission, that it was banking. The Independent reports that she told controllers the plane was being thrown up and down by more than 700 feet (213 meters) and asked for a better route through the area. The co-pilot's radio calls are among the clearest signs of how the flight deteriorated before the crash.

Wreckage and road closure

The crash left a crater in the asphalt of a busy road. Videos shared on social media show the aircraft falling almost vertically before it exploded in a fireball on the ground. Investigators said pieces of the elevator, the tail part that controls the plane's pitch, were found more than a mile from the main crater. Investigators said the find confirmed the plane began breaking apart before impact.

Excavation at the crash site has been completed, but Military Trail remains closed between 10th Avenue North and Cresthaven Boulevard. Residents of a nearby mobile home park can return home. People whose homes were damaged and cannot be lived in have been housed temporarily. The road closure is the most visible sign that the site remains under investigation.

What comes next

The NTSB generally takes 12 to 18 months to complete a crash investigation, though complicated cases can take longer. The agency has not said when it can name a probable cause. The recorder may help explain why the Learjet appeared to steer around one large storm cell and then head into a smaller, rapidly developing one. Its condition and whether it captured any audio will determine how much of the final minutes can be reconstructed from cockpit sound.