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Ex-Google Maps employee recreates Florida Learjet's 35,000ft plunge in 78 seconds in 4D
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A former Google Maps product manager has created an open-source four-dimensional digital reconstruction of the tragic plunge of a private Learjet 60 that crashed in Palm Beach County, Florida, killing all nine people aboard.
The aircraft plummeted from cruising altitude to the ground in just 78 seconds on Sunday, November 1.
Bilawal Sidhu, who spent six years at Google developing spatial computing tools including 3D Maps, ARCore, and YouTube VR, published the detailed visual project to YouTube a day after the crash.
The project combines real-time data feeds, satellite readings, official audio tracks, and ground video into a synchronized representation of the aircraft's final moments.
Sidhu admitted that working through the source material was an emotionally heavy task. The description of his video reads: “Viewer discretion: this video includes uncut air traffic control recording of the crew's final transmissions, and real footage of the impact.
"I make a lot of 4D reconstructions of real-world events, and this has been the most visceral and gut-wrenching thing I've seen in a long time...”
Reconstructing the final seconds of flight
Narrating his recreation of the plunge, Sidhu tells viewers: “Just over a minute before this harrowing video, this Learjet was cruising at 35,000 ft, 7 miles above Palm Beach County.
"It had left Austin, Texas for the Bahamas with nine people on board.
"This is a 4D reconstruction, fusing together public flight tracking, weather radar, ATC audio, and bystander footage into a god's-eye view.
"Two hours in, the flight was headed straight into a line of thunderstorms. From here, everything plays in real time with the radio calls uncut. Viewer discretion is advised.”
The simulation integrates public ADS-B trajectory records, Doppler radar volumes from NOAA NEXRAD, cloud top data from NOAA GOES-19, and Miami Center air traffic communications. Sidhu aligned the official audio to the flight clock using the descent figures stated by the pilots, placing the craft inside Google Photorealistic 3D Tiles to show its path above the Florida terrain.
According to federal tracking data and investigation briefings, the 22-year-old twin-engine jet fell at roughly 350 feet per second. Visuals from witnesses showed the aircraft striking the ground nose-first near Military Trail, between Cresthaven Boulevard and 10th Avenue in the Greenacres area, leaving a crater near a commercial shopping center.
Federal investigators examine weather and debris
The National Transportation Safety Board launched an on-site inquiry into the crash. Board member Tom Chapman gave an initial timeline of the flight, noting that the crew reported light clear ice and moderate turbulence at 35,000 feet around 12:47PM Eastern Time while cruise temperatures registered minus 53 degrees Fahrenheit.
Soon after receiving clearance to climb to 37,000 feet, the flight crew broadcast a sudden descent alongside an emergency call. "Less than 30 seconds later, the airplane transmitted, 'We are in an overspeed condition, descending...,' with the rest unintelligible," Chapman said. "Subsequent communications described that the airplane was descending rapidly and gave an altitude callout."
"We do have some indication that the aircraft was breaking up before impact, and so some of this is yet to be determined. We may find parts of the aircraft some distance away from the actual impact site," Chapman said.
Debris was scattered across an area measuring approximately half a mile by four-tenths of a mile, and the impact led to the temporary evacuation of dozens of nearby residences. One individual seated inside a parked vehicle on the ground sustained a leg injury.
Victims remembered as inquiry continues
The flight had departed Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas and was traveling toward North Eleuthera in the Bahamas before it went down. The aircraft was owned by Aurora Aviation, operating as Upper Jets.
Seven passengers and two crew members died in the impact. Among the victims was a family of four consisting of Adam Robinson, Helen Sharp, and their children, four-year-old Emma and two-year-old Charlie.
"Helen and Adam were the love affair that will last forever," Anthony Robinson said in an online statement alongside a picture of the family. "Their warmth, generosity and gift for making people feel welcome touched so many lives. Their loss will be felt deeply by all those who loved them and who they loved in return."
Family members also identified 20-year-old Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras as the co-pilot of the aircraft.
Official agencies noted that formal identification will take time as forensic examiners review evidence. Investigators continue to gather wreckage and meteorological data to establish the formal cause of the disaster.