“We do have some evidence that there was some breakup of the aircraft before impact,” said Chapman, implying the 2004-built Learjet possibly shed control surfaces during its rapid descent.

“We have a lot of work to do on scene,” said lead investigator Timothy Monville. “This will be a several-day process, and the biggest obstacle that we’re going to have is recovering the major wreckage from the impacted crater on the roadway.”

According to Monville, the crash site is spread across an area half a mile long by four-tenths of a mile wide, scattered among ball fields, businesses, and personal residences. Members of the community who come across any wreckage are asked to contact authorities and not move it. The agency also requested that any accident witnesses contact [email protected].

“Our mission is to understand not just what happened, but why it happened, and to recommend changes to prevent it from happening again,” Chapman explained. “We will not be determining the probable cause of the crash while we’re here on scene, nor will we speculate about the cause.”

While some have pointed to the relative youth of the copilot, who earned her private pilot license in 2023 as a high school student, NASA Administrator and veteran Learjet pilot Jared Issacman—writing in a “personal capacity” on his X account—argued that the charter industry routinely hires commercial-rated pilots early in their careers so they can gain experience alongside an ATP-qualified captain. “She would still have the appropriate training, qualifications, and checkouts by an FAA examiner or designee,” he said.