NTSB investigators found no evidence linking a deadly Learjet crash near Palm Beach to Mar-a-Lago or Secret Service work, calling the location purely coincidental as recovery continues.
A private Learjet 60 went down in Palm Beach County, Florida, on Sunday, killing all nine people aboard less than ten miles from President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.
National Transportation Safety Board member Tom Chapman told reporters the crash had no connection to the property or nearby Secret Service operations and described any such link as “purely coincidence.”
Breitbart News reported the NTSB findings as crews worked a water-filled impact crater and searched for wreckage scattered across the area.
Among the dead were Austin technology entrepreneur Adam Robinson, 45; his wife Helen Sharp, 40; and their children Emma, 4, and Charlie, 2. Two crew members also died. The jet had taken off from Austin, Texas, bound for North Eleuthera in the Bahamas.
The crash site sits in a residential stretch near Military Trail and Cresthaven Boulevard. Roughly 600 residents were evacuated afterward. County officials later said 40 to 50 people remained at the Greenacres Community Center while authorities sought state funding for temporary housing and transportation.
Security around Mar-a-Lago has drawn repeated attention in recent years, including a separate case in which a Florida woman drove into a Secret Service checkpoint near the estate and claimed she only wanted a car wash.
Chapman said the most of the plane’s left elevator, a movable tail surface that controls whether the nose points up or down, was found between 1.3 and 3.8 miles from the impact site.
"The discovery adds to evidence that the aircraft began breaking apart before impact. The elevator is a movable surface on the aircraft’s tail that helps control whether its nose points up or down."
He added that even if the piece had stayed attached, he did not believe it would have helped the crew recover from the rapid descent.
While flying at about 35,000 feet, the crew reported light clear ice and moderate turbulence. They requested a climb to 37,000 feet. Controllers approved the request. Less than 30 seconds later the crew issued a mayday call and reported they were descending.
Investigators have obtained dashcam footage to help reconstruct the final moments. Recovered wreckage is being held for analysis. Officials urged anyone who finds debris to leave it untouched and notify authorities. Severe weather filled the crater with water and slowed some recovery work. Chapman said the force of the crash means additional components will likely be small. The cause has not been determined; weather remains under review.
"Investigators have also obtained dashcam footage to help reconstruct the aircraft’s final moments, Chapman said. Recovered wreckage is being retained for analysis, and officials urged anyone who encounters debris to leave it untouched and notify authorities."
The same Palm Beach County corridor that hosts Mar-a-Lago also draws heavy protective details for the first family, a reality underscored by reporting on how Barron Trump lives inside a security bubble shaped by Iranian threats and earlier assassination attempts.
The New York Post reported the $2 million Learjet slammed into a Florida mobile home park and that witnesses described the sound as like a missile.
At a Tuesday briefing, officials said Military Trail remained closed in both directions between 10th Avenue North and Purdy Lane. They gave no timeline for reopening the road or letting displaced residents return home.
"Officials said during Tuesday’s briefing that Military Trail remained closed in both directions between 10th Avenue North and Purdy Lane. They did not provide a timeline for reopening the road or allowing displaced residents to return home."
Palm Beach County spokesperson John Jamason confirmed the shelter numbers to local reporters as the county pressed for state help covering housing and transport costs for those still displaced.
The Washington Examiner reported that 20-year-old Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, who grew up in Palm Beach County and earned her private pilot’s license before finishing high school, was serving as co-pilot. Her mother and stepfather confirmed her role on the flight from Austin to the Bahamas.
Mar-a-Lago itself continues to function as both a private club and a heavily secured residence, a dual role that has placed family members in the public eye, from guests noting Barron Trump’s sharp, funny side at the club to earlier scrutiny of travel and communications.
Chapman was direct when asked whether Secret Service activity played any part. He rejected the idea outright.
"purely coincidence."
Past federal actions around the property have included aggressive monitoring, such as when the FBI under Biden tracked Melania and Barron Trump travel and monitored related phones during a Mar-a-Lago probe. None of that history changes the NTSB’s current finding on this crash.
Investigators still face a flooded crater, scattered small parts, and an open cause determination. Residents wait for a reopening date that has not been set. The nine lives lost remain the central fact. Speculation about nearby landmarks does not alter the evidence on the ground.
When a plane falls out of the sky, facts matter more than geography. The NTSB looked at the wreckage and the flight path and found no tie to Mar-a-Lago, only a tragedy that still needs answers.
