National Transportation Safety Board says discovery of parts confirms plane was breaking apart before it crashed

A piece of the private Learjet 60 that crashed in Florida, killing all nine people onboard, was found 4 miles (6km) away from the crash site, according to investigators on Tuesday, providing confirmation the plane was breaking apart prior to impact.

The majority of the left elevator, part of the tail that controls the pitch of the aircraft, was found in three separate pieces between 1.3 miles and 3.8 miles from the crash site at Greenacres, near West Palm Beach, according to National Transportation Safety Board member Tom Chapman.

Family of four, two close friends and nanny also died in crash as pilot identified as 55-year-old Jeff Gregory

Family members on Monday identified a young Florida pilot as one of nine victims of a plane crash in Palm Beach county that occurred during a heavy thunderstorm.

Nathalia Filgueiras, 20, was co-pilot of the private Learjet 60 en route from Austin-Bergstrom international airport in Texas to North Eleuthera airport in the Bahamas on Sunday when it suddenly plummeted out of the sky, killing all onboard, her mother told the New York Times.

Nine people died when a business jet crashed in Miami, Florida, on Sunday. Onlookers captured footage showing a large crater engulfed in flames at the site of the crash

• All nine people aboard business jet that crashed in Florida have died