Deadly Palm Beach County jet crash: Gilbertsville man identified as captain

And now to a developing story in South Florida and the deadly Learjet crash that killed all nine people aboard, including two young children. Tonight, the NTSB says parts of the aircraft likely broke off before it crashed near West Palm Beach. It's debris found as far as a half mile from the once fiery crash site. And Jeff, you found out that the captain had connections to our area. What else have you learned? Sheba, the captain of that plane that crashed in Palm Beach has ties to the Delaware Valley. We are learning this tonight, identified as Jeff Gregory by his former employer, East Coast Jets in Allentown. FAA records indicate Gregory was from Gilbertsville, Montgomery County. 722 Bravo Delta, we're descending 8,000. Mayday, mayday, we're descending 10,000 feet per minute. The chilling call for help from inside the cockpit moments before this Learjet 60 crashed in Palm Beach County, Florida on Sunday, killing all nine aboard, including 55-year-old Captain Jeff Gregory, a former employee of East Coast Jets out of Allentown, who worked for the company in 2016 and 17. In a statement to Fox 29 today, the private jet company says, quote, we are deeply saddened to learn that Captain Jeff Gregory was among those who lost their lives in yesterday's tragic aviation accident in Palm Beach. Our prayers go out to Jeff's family, his fellow crew members, the passengers, and everyone affected by this heartbreaking tragedy. We have specialists from our Office of Transportation Disaster Assistance on scene. They will be working closely with the families and local agencies to provide support to those involved. Among the others on board, according to grieving relatives, a family, Adam Robinson, his wife, Helen, and their two young children, as well as 20-year-old co-pilot Nathalia Villegas. She had all of the licenses that were required. She went to- Flight school here in the U.S., she had some of the best training in the world. She was working as part of a flight crew, so anything that was going on was not her decision unilaterally, but the crews put their heads together and tried to come up with the best options. NTSB investigators on the scene in South Florida investigating the cause of the crash as it was en route from Texas to the Bahamas. They say weather conditions will be a major focus of the investigation. Philadelphia area aviation expert John Gagliano tells Fox 29 there are many factors why a plane would nosedive and crash like this and in some ways reminds him of the plane crash last year in the Northeast when a Learjet 55 crashed shortly after takeoff from Northeast Philadelphia Airport. They're both Lears and both of them I thought were out of control. That was my first impression. Now, the plane is registered to an LLC in Wilmington, Delaware. Meanwhile, Limerick Chapel in Limerick, Pennsylvania, is working closely with Gregory's family to make funeral arrangements tonight. We're live in the newsroom. Jeff Skoberski, Fox 29. Sheba? Jeff, that video was so horrific to watch. People on the ground thought it was a missile. And when you see that slow-mo, you understand why people on the ground thought that. All right, Jeff, thank you.