Aviation expert identifies key error pilots made before deadly Florida Learjet crash

Several human errors may have led to Sunday’s Learjet crash in Florida that killed all nine people on board, aviation experts told New York Post. The Learjet 60, flying from Texas to the Bahamas, stalled in a storm, likely between 35,000 and 37,000 feet, and crashed near a trailer park in Palm Beach County.

Aviation expert Justin Crabbe, CEO of charter-flight platform Jettly, said the pilots chose to fly through the storm. “They certainly should have gone around [the storm],” Crabbe said. Co-pilot Nathalia Filgueiras, 20, requested and received clearance to climb from 35,000 to 37,000 feet after reporting ice forming on the jet. “They tried to ascend to get to clearer air, which may have been one of the contributing factors toward accelerating that stall,” he said.

Aviation lawyer Zachary S. Gorwitz said the storm was nearly 50,000 feet high, according to NOAA data. “This was kind of the perfect storm of trouble,” he said. Authorities are investigating.