The National Transportation Safety Board said in a social media statement that the recorder was found at the crash site where the Bahamas-bound business jet slammed into the earth and erupted in a fireball. The device is being evaluated at a laboratory in Washington.

It was not immediately clear whether the recorder was damaged or had been functioning at the time of the crash. But photographs posted online by the agency showing the recorder's orange-painted metal shell suggested it was in relatively good condition, according to aviation safety expert Jeff Guzzetti.

"It's very plausible that any info on the recorder survived," Guzzetti told The Associated Press. "If they can recover it, and it's from the accident flight, that will be a huge help to investigators."

Guzzetti noted that when the NTSB recovered the cockpit voice recorder from a medical transport plane that crashed in Philadelphia in January 2025, killing seven people, the device likely had not been functioning for several years.

The Learjet departed from Austin, Texas, and was headed to the Bahamas when it encountered severe weather over Florida. Witnesses captured dramatic video as the jet plunged nose-first into the ground, and air traffic control transmissions recorded the pilots as they realized their situation.

Investigators have said pieces of the elevator — a key tail component that controls the plane's pitch — were found more than a mile from the main crater, confirming the aircraft began to break apart before impact. The co-pilot told air traffic controllers that the plane was being thrown up and down more than 700 feet and asked for a better route through the area.

The cockpit voice recorder could shed light on why the Learjet appeared to steer around a large storm cell only to head directly into a rapidly developing smaller one, and on what the pilots said to each other as they encountered turbulence and ice formed on the wings.

The NTSB has completed its on-scene investigation. The agency will review maintenance records and any history of problems with the plane, and will interview officials at Upper Jets, the company that operated the flight, as well as air traffic controllers and workers at the Austin airport.

Crash investigations typically take 12 to 18 months to complete, though complicated cases can take longer. The NTSB's roughly 400 employees are currently pursuing more than 1,200 active investigations.

The crash has devastated families across the region, including the father of the young co-pilot, who spoke publicly about losing his daughter. The recovery of the voice recorder marks a critical step in determining what caused the disaster and whether any safety failures contributed to the loss of nine lives.