Jenni Rivera, the 43-year-old Mexican-American singer and performer, was killed in a Learjet 25 crash over the weekend about 70 miles south of Monterrey, Mexico.
According to the NTSB, which is assisting in the investigation, the accident occurred around 3:30 a.m. local time and claimed the lives of all seven individuals on board. Search and rescue personnel located the wreckage – which was reportedly strewn across an expanse nearly 1,000 feet wide – Sunday afternoon.
The airplane took off from General Mariano Escobedo International Airport and was headed for Toluca when it lost contact with air traffic control approximately 10 minutes into the flight. While flying in mountainous terrain, the airplane reportedly made a rapid descent from 35,000 feet to 9,000 feet directly before the crash.
Authorities say it could take up to 10 days to fully collect all the necessary evidence from the crash site.
The 43-year-old Learjet sustained substantial damage in a runway incident in 2005 when the airplane struck a runway marker and veered off the landing strip. NTSB investigators attributed that incident to pilot error.
