Ill-Fated Learjet Had Altitude Struggles Amid Severe Turbulence 6 Months Ago, ATC Audio Shows

A Learjet 60 that crashed in Florida on November 1, killing all nine people onboard, had experienced a troubling encounter with severe turbulence just six months earlier. Resurfaced air traffic control audio from May 2026 reveals that the same aircraft struggled to maintain its assigned altitude near Newark, New Jersey, prompting a controller to challenge the crew's description of the conditions as merely moderate turbulence.