GREENACRES, FL — Federal investigators have recovered the cockpit voice recorder from the Learjet 60 that crashed in Palm Beach County last week, killing all nine people aboard, officials said.
Investigators located the cockpit voice recorder at the site of the aircraft's initial impact near Greenacres, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a Monday update on the investigation.
The NTSB sent the recorder to its Vehicle Recorders Laboratory in Washington, D.C., where it is being evaluated. Investigators haven't yet confirmed whether the device contains usable recordings.
The NTSB also said that excavation work at the impact site has been completed.
A cockpit voice recorder captures sounds and conversations inside an aircraft's cockpit, including communications between pilots, radio transmissions and other audio that could help investigators reconstruct the flight's final moments.
If investigators can recover usable recordings, the device could provide additional insight into what the pilots experienced and discussed before the crash, officials said. No deadline for the evaluation's completion has been provided by the NTSB.
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The Learjet, operated by Aurora Aviation, doing business as Upper Jet, was traveling from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas to North Eleuthera Airport in the Bahamas when it crashed near Greenacres on Nov. 1. All nine people aboard — two pilots and seven passengers — died.
The crew had reported encountering icing and turbulence at approximately 35,000 feet, according to information previously released by the NTSB. The pilots requested to climb to a higher altitude before reporting an emergency and a rapid descent.
The co-pilot, Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, told air traffic controllers the aircraft was descending in an overspeed condition before the crash.
The recovery of the voice recorder comes on the heels of the NTSB's Sunday announcement that investigators had recovered components from both wings and both engines of the plane.
Other recovered aircraft parts include portions of the flight deck, vertical and horizontal stabilizers, the left elevator, sections of the ailerons and multiple flap track assemblies.
Some of the recovered parts have been sent to NTSB laboratories in Washington for closer examination.
Before excavation was completed, investigators had also recovered three pieces of the aircraft's left elevator between 1.3 and 3.8 miles from the crash site.
NTSB board member Thomas Chapman previously said the distance indicated that at least some aircraft components separated before impact. Investigators have not determined whether that separation contributed to the crash.
The NTSB had completed its investigative work in several surrounding areas, including the Green Acres Mobile Home Community, Reading Truck, Silver Oaks Plaza, Value Store It Self Storage and John I. Leonard High School.
With the latest developments in the investigation, Palm Beach County officials said on Monday that residents of the mobile home community near the crash site can begin returning home, WPBF reported.
Residents whose homes were damaged and cannot yet be occupied have been provided temporary housing, according to local officials.
Palm Beach County is also proposing a $250,000 grant program to help businesses affected by the crash and the resulting road closure, with eligible businesses potentially receiving up to $5,000, WPTV reported, WPTV said.
"Financially wise, it's been a pretty economical impact, considering we've got 15 employees and we've got a lot of businesses in the area," Eddie Rivera, owner of Señor Lechon restaurant, told the news outlet, adding, "Anything helps at this point, especially if it comes to payroll because we've got 15 employees trying to survive as well and help out as much as we can personally, but if we can have the county do some sort of grant program or maybe talk to the state or maybe talk to some at federal level that they can have some sort of help with us, that'll be great."
Military Trail remains closed between 10th Avenue North and Cresthaven Boulevard.
The crash had forced hundreds of residents from the nearby community as emergency crews and federal investigators worked at the scene.
This article includes reporting by The Associated Press.
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