The Eyrie

WEST PALM BEACH, FL — A family of four, including two young children, was among the nine people killed when a Learjet crashed in Palm Beach County, according to a relative. The aircraft slammed into a Florida roadway Sunday and left a crater near a shopping center, according to federal officials and local authorities.

The victims were aboard a Bahamas-bound flight that had taken off from Austin, Texas, earlier in the day. Investigators say the jet descended rapidly before impact, and the National Transportation Safety Board said Monday that the plane may have been breaking up before it hit the ground.

Family members identify victims as officials wait on formal confirmation

Anthony Robinson identified the family killed in the crash as Adam Robinson, Helen Sharp and their children, Emma, 4, and Charlie, 2. In an online statement, he described the couple as deeply loving and said their kindness affected many people around them.

The co-pilot’s stepfather also identified her to ABC News as 20-year-old Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras. A Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office official said it is still too early for the victims’ identities to be officially released, and the medical examiner is working through a lengthy DNA collection and assessment process.

Authorities have not yet released a full official passenger list. The crash killed everyone aboard the aircraft, including two crew members and seven passengers, federal and local officials said.

Witnesses and video show a jet plunging nose-first into a fireball

Photos and videos posted online showed the twin-engine Learjet 60 striking the ground nose-first and bursting into flames. Federal Aviation Administration officials said the aircraft hit the ground at a rate of about 350 feet per second, creating a large crater in the roadway.

The impact site was near Military Trail, between Cresthaven Boulevard and 10th Avenue, in the Greenacres community of Palm Beach County. Officials said the crash happened just before 1 p.m. ET and left wreckage scattered across a wide area.

NTSB investigator Timothy Monville said one man inside a vehicle near the scene suffered a leg injury. The jet came down close to a shopping center, adding to the damage and complicating the emergency response.

Investigators focus on icing, turbulence and a rapid descent from 35,000 feet

At a Monday news conference, NTSB board member Tom Chapman said the crew reported icing and moderate turbulence before the crash. The plane was at 35,000 feet when those conditions were discussed with air traffic control, and the crew said the turbulence was causing altitude deviations of about 700 feet.

Chapman said the outside temperature at the time was minus 47 degrees Celsius, or minus 53 degrees Fahrenheit. Very soon after the crew requested permission to climb to 37,000 feet, they began a rapid descent and issued a Mayday call.

The NTSB said it is still not clear whether the aircraft flew through an active thunderstorm. Officials also said they do not yet have precise airspeed figures, though they believe the plane was moving at a high rate of speed before the crash.

Possible breakup before impact raises new questions about wreckage recovery

Chapman said investigators have indications that the aircraft may have broken apart before it reached the ground. That could mean parts of the jet were thrown some distance from the main impact site, making the evidence trail harder to follow.

Aircraft maintenance records showed a cockpit voice recorder had been installed on the jet, though Chapman said investigators do not yet know whether it remained on board during the final flight. That uncertainty is now part of the broader reconstruction of the crash sequence.

Federal investigators plan to remain at the scene for several days. They are still searching for debris and said the crater created by the crash is one of the biggest obstacles to recovering wreckage.

Hundreds evacuated as debris spreads through homes, businesses and ball fields

Monville estimated that the debris field stretched about one-half mile by four-tenths of a mile and was scattered across ball fields, businesses and houses. He said investigators have found debris but have not yet identified all of the parts they are recovering.

The crash also forced the evacuation of hundreds of people from 77 mobile homes in the area, county officials said after the NTSB briefing. Rainwater has seeped into the crater, and investigators said the weather is making their work more difficult.

Officials said the debris recovery effort will continue as crews document the scene and examine wreckage patterns. The investigation is expected to focus heavily on weather, flight conditions and the final moments before the jet fell from cruising altitude.