Former investigator says tailplane stall may have caused South Florida jet crash

SARASOTA, Fla. (WWSB) - A former air safety investigator said a tailplane stall, likely triggered by ice on the tail, may have caused a Sunday night jet crash in South Florida that killed all nine people on board.Authorities have not released an official cause of the crash.What investigators are doingAn NTSB investigation team arrived at the scene around 7 p.m. Sunday, and the documentation process is underway, according to the NTSB. Investigators said a possible factor they are examining is a buildup of ice on the plane.Diggins explains a tailplane stallDan Diggins, a former air safety investigator and veteran pilot, said the crash involving the Learjet 60 could have been caused by a tailplane stall. He described it as an event in which the horizontal stabilizer in the tail loses lift, causing the nose to pitch sharply down. He said it is rare but often fatal.Diggins said ice buildup on the tail, from super-cooled water droplets at high altitude, probably triggered the event.Parts of