On November 1, 2026, a Learjet 60 departing from Austin, Texas, and bound for the Bahamas crashed in Palm Beach County, Florida, approximately two hours after takeoff. All nine people on board were killed. About ten minutes before the crash, the copilot asked air traffic control for permission to climb to a higher altitude because of ice accumulation and turbulence. Permission was granted, but shortly afterward the aircraft descended sharply and crashed into the ground. In addition to the pilot, Jeff Gregory, and the copilot, Nathalia Filgueiras, seven passengers were on board: Adam Robinson and his wife Helen Sharp, along with their children Emma and Charlie, aged four and two; their babysitter, Anita Maria Cetina; and Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr, friends of the Robinsons.
 |
| The aircraft that crashed in Palm Beach, photographed in 2025. Photo credit: Jet Photos. |
At least two videos of the crash were recorded by the dashcams of cars driving along the road where the accident occurred (first and second video). The exact cause of the crash is not yet known, although statements made during the NTSB press briefings on November 2 and November 3 suggest that adverse weather conditions were the main factor. Important details, such as the angle and speed at which the aircraft hit the ground, are therefore still unknown. The FAA estimates the speed at approximately 350 feet per second, as reported by ABC News.
This tragic event helps clarify some of the less intuitive aspects of the September 11 crashes. The first thing to notice is that, because of its high speed, the aircraft is not clearly visible in the video stills. The Palm Beach crash videos were recorded using obviously more modern equipment, with a higher frame rate than the Pentagon security cameras in 2001. Nevertheless, in the still frames, the aircraft is difficult to recognize as such.
The second important aspect is that the Learjet hit the ground nose-first, making this crash obviously similar in some respects to United Flight 93, which crashed near Shanksville. In this case too, the aircraft left a crater in the ground, with no large, easily identifiable wreckage. We have already shown on this blog in the past how near-vertical crashes leave few remains visible from a distance. The Learjet 60 crash in Palm Beach is another example of this.
In this case too, as often happens, people commenting on tragic events use hyperbolic language. For example, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis told reporters: "It looked like a missile going down." He was obviously making a comparison intended to emphasize the aircraft's speed and straight-line trajectory. However, September 11 conspiracy theorists often quote a similar statement by journalist Mike Walter (whom I interviewed years ago on this subject) to argue that no plane crashed into the Pentagon.
One aspect of aircraft crashes that is not very intuitive is how far debris can be scattered. During the November 3 press briefing, the NTSB reported that some debris was found within a radius of nearly four miles. Conspiracy theorists believe that the fact that debris from United Flight 93 was found more than eight miles away proves that the flight was shot down by military fighter jets. In the Palm Beach case, the debris was obviously much closer, but the aircraft was smaller, traveling at a lower speed, and carrying less fuel. The comparison is still significant.
The Palm Beach crash once again demonstrates how difficult it is to understand the dynamics of an aircraft crash based solely on images and on what viewers expect to see. This is precisely why, when analyzing the September 11 attacks, it is important not to judge what happened according to what we would intuitively expect to see. Real-world accidents remind us that reality can be very different from what we imagine.
Nessun commento:
Posta un commento