It was shortly before 12.48pm on Sunday when the mundane-seeming request to Miami Route Air Traffic Control came in.
asserted
request → seem → Control
The Learjet crew reported 'light, clear ice that is manageable,' adding that the nine people on board were experiencing 'moderate turbulence.'
asserted
people → report → turbulence
The two pilots, hoping to skirt the choppy air, asked ATC about 'better rides.'
asserted
pilots → hop → rides
The pilots can be heard requesting permission to climb to 37,000ft, to avoid the turbulence.
asserted
pilots → hear → turbulence
The staff at ATC in Miami reply: 'Roger.
asserted
staff → reply → Miami
But a smoother path was never found
The plane begins briefly climbing, before it plummets.
asserted
it → find → ?
The Learjet hurtles down at a rate of 8,000ft a minute, a pace that only quickens.
asserted
that → hurtle → ft
'Mayday, mayday!' yells one of the two pilots.
asserted
one → yell → pilots
'We're descending 10,000 feet per minute!'
asserted
We → descend → minute
There is nothing that ATC can do.
asserted
ATC → be → that
The pilots then say they are nosediving to the ground, descending 'in an over-speed condition' and falling 20,000 feet a minute.
asserted
they → say → feet
'I'm here with you, talk to me,' ATC says, but it is impossible.
asserted
it → talk → me
At 12.50pm the plane plunged nose-first into a highway, bursting into an enormous fireball and killing all on board immediately.
asserted
plane → plunge → board
Blurry photos of the aircraft heading towards the moment of impact suggest that perhaps the horizontal stabilizer, which sits at 90 degrees to the tail fin, has been sheared off the plane – but without the full black box data recordings and subsequent National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) report
asserted
which → head → recordings
, it is not possible to know.
asserted
it → know → ?
Miraculously no one on the ground was killed, but the images of the plane diving into the highway, recorded by cars passing by, are hard to forget.
asserted
plane → kill → cars
They will be seized on by investigators.
asserted
They → seize → investigators
Of course the question on everyone's minds is: How did this fatal crash happen and could it happen on a larger aircraft – even a commercial flight?
uncertain
it → happen → aircraft
As a pilot with one of America's largest airlines who has also flown Learjets, Julian Alarcon, 38, understands the challenges, and risks, of both types of aircraft.
asserted
Alarcon → fly → aircraft
The founder of his own flight school, Aviator NYC, Alarcon said he didn't want to 'Monday morning quarterback,' the crash before publication of the full NTSB report, which usually takes over a year to compile and will provide specific details and allow full analysis.
asserted
which → say → analysis
But he said: 'There is a classic saying in aviation: 'There are old pilots, and bold pilots, but you never find an old, bold pilot.''
asserted
you → say → pilot
The plane, a Bombardier Learjet 60, took off from Austin, Texas at 10.37am on Sunday, and headed to the island of North Eleuthera in the Bahamas.
asserted
plane → take → Bahamas
The captain of the flight, 55-year-old Jeff Gregory, an experienced pilot from Pennsylvania, and his co-pilot, 20-year-old Nathalia Filgueiras, were transporting Texan tech entrepreneur Adam Robinson, 44; his wife Helen Sharp, 40; their two children and nanny; and two friends.
asserted
captain → transport → Robinson
At 12.50pm on Sunday, the plane plunged nose-first into a highway, bursting into an enormous fireball and killing all on board
Miraculously no one on the ground was harmed, but the images of the plane diving into the highway, recorded by cars passing by, are hard to forget
Nathalia Filgueiras, 20, was flying the plane with Captain Jeff Gregory, 55
Alarcon said Filgueiras' age was not of concern: insurers would be more interested in confirming that she had the necessary hours of flying experience to handle a powerful plane like the Learjet.
asserted
she → plunge → Learjet
According to Filgueiras's mother, Camila Corteleti, she obtained her pilot's license at the age of 17 and had logged more than 1,300 hours of flying time, significantly more than the 40-hour FAA minimum.
uncertain
she → accord → minimum
She had worked for the charter company Upper Jets for nine months and had experience flying Learjets, which Alarcon described as a sports car of a private jet, and often the plane of choice for deep-pocketed corporate executives because it's fast and can transport its passengers much quicker than other planes.
asserted
it → work → planes
The three-hour journey from Texas to the Bahamas was apparently progressing as planned until arriving above Florida and encountering storms.
asserted
journey → progress → storms
Learjets can fly at altitudes of up to 51,000 feet – significantly higher than the 39-41,000ft maximum of most commercial airlines.
asserted
Learjets → fly → airlines
So the pilots might try and go above the storms, in a way that a commercial airline pilot could not.
uncertain
pilot → try → way
Alarcon said he explains to his students that flying through a storm is like experiencing a drop of water boil and evaporate.
asserted
drop → say → water
It rises, then cools, freezes, and drops down again.
asserted
It → rise → ?
That shifting air creates turbulence – a rollercoaster effect, whereby passengers are flung up and down, side to side as the plane passes through the air pockets.
asserted
plane → shift → pockets
'That is also part of why we, as airliners, stay away from it because it's just too uncomfortable for passengers,' he said.
asserted
he → stay → passengers
'Even with just a little bit of turbulence, people get really afraid.
asserted
people → get → turbulence
And one of the core principals at the airlines is caring and comfort, and it makes people very uncomfortable going through the storms.
asserted
people → make → storms
'
Charter and private jets nowadays have access to the same radar weather information as commercial airliners, Alarcon said – provided there was WiFi on the plane to receive the updates.
asserted
Alarcon → have → updates
However, unlike commercial planes, on which 'teams of thousands' work around the clock – large numbers of ground crew, maintenance teams, dispatchers and analysts – private jets are reliant on a small number of people.
asserted
jets → work → people
In addition, the data from the ground they'd be receiving would be delayed by about five to 10 minutes: enough time, Alarcon said, for a storm to have significantly shifted in location and intensity.
asserted
storm → receive → location
There is some speculation that the Learjet encountered a 'rapid growth cell' – a thunderstorm that mushrooms quickly.
asserted
that → be → cell
The Learjet would by regulation be flying on autopilot at this point, Alarcon said, because it was in RVSM Airspace – Reduced Vertical Separation Minimum.
asserted
it → fly → Airspace
…and 30 more, not listed.
The Aporia
