Tragic reason there’s seemingly no trace of the plane wreckage after private jet crash in Florida

The devastating Florida plane crash has left many questions in its wake.

But one detail in the footage has particularly caught people’s attention: when the camera turns toward the impact site, there appears to be almost no sign of the aircraft that crashed there.

Now, an aviation expert has offered an explanation for why so little wreckage seemed to be visible after the horrific impact.

600 residents evacuated

The Learjet 60 went down in Greenacres, near West Palm Beach, on Sunday, killing all nine people aboard. The aircraft slammed into the ground with enormous force, triggering a massive fireball and leaving a smouldering crater behind.

No deaths were reported on the ground, although at least one mobile home was damaged. Around 600 residents were evacuated as a precaution.

In the aftermath, videos of the crash spread online. One clip in particular raised questions: the impact site appeared to show a huge crater, but very little recognizable plane wreckage.

So where had the aircraft gone?

Why was there so little wreckage visible?

Aviation expert Mary Schiavo said the footage suggested the aircraft was not making a controlled descent when it struck the ground.

Schiavo, an aviation attorney, licensed pilot and former U.S. government official, has spent decades working in the field of aviation safety and investigating issues surrounding air travel.

”That is not a controlled descent,” she told CNN’s Fredricka Whitfield Sunday.

”It’s clear, whatever happened, they had lost control of the plane.”

The final communications with air traffic control also indicated that the aircraft was experiencing an overspeed condition.

Combined with the extreme force of the impact, this may help explain why so little of the plane appeared intact in the footage. The plane descended at an “incredibly fast” rate, dropping roughly seven miles in just 60 seconds.

At that speed, parts of the aircraft could have broken apart on impact. The resulting explosion and fire may also have destroyed or obscured much of the wreckage.

And what wasn’t visible in the crater may have been scattered elsewhere. Reports from the area described debris spread beyond the immediate impact site, with residents saying fragments had even struck their homes.

Diving at more than 600 miles per hour

Miami-based aviation attorney Zachary Gorwitz believes the aircraft may have encountered a serious icing problem. The pilot had reportedly told air traffic control that she was dealing with icing and turbulence, but just minutes later, the plane crashed into the street.

Gorwitz explained that ice can accumulate on critical parts of an aircraft when it passes through freezing clouds at high altitudes. He suggested that ice may have affected the horizontal stabilizer, a component at the rear of the plane that helps keep its nose from pitching too far up or down.

If ice builds up around sensors connected to the stabilizer, it could potentially interfere with the aircraft’s ability to maintain control. Gorwitz said this might explain the sudden, steep descent seen in the footage.

He also pointed out that an engine problem would normally lead to a more gradual descent. ”There was no gliding here,” he told Miami Herald.

According to Gorwitz, crashes are more commonly associated with takeoff or landing. He pointed to a cargo plane accident at Miami International Airport in September, when an Amazon aircraft skidded off the runway, killing five people.

But the speed of Sunday’s impact may also explain why so little recognizable wreckage was visible. Gorwitz said the plane was diving at more than 600 miles per hour, adding that ”it’s really not surprising that there wouldn’t be a lot of surface debris because of the incredible force of the impact.”

Second-deadliest plane accident this year

Another possible reason for the lack of visible wreckage at the impact site is that the video itself may have given a misleading impression of the scene.

The footage was filmed by an amateur in the chaotic aftermath, with thick smoke and flames surrounding the area. Those conditions could have hidden debris that was actually present.

For now, these are possible explanations rather than confirmed findings. Investigators will need to examine the crash site and the aircraft before the full picture becomes clear.

The Florida crash was the second-deadliest plane accident in the United States this year, according to NTSB records. Only one other crash had claimed more lives: a skydiving plane accident in Butler, Missouri, in June that killed 12 people.

It was also the deadliest accident ever involving a Learjet 60, according to the Flight Safety Foundation. The previous fatal crash involving the aircraft occurred in 2008, when four people died after a Learjet 60 bound for Los Angeles crashed during takeoff in Columbia, South Carolina.