The jetliner was on fire.
The jetliner returned safely to San Francisco.
The jetliner was flying over heavily populated areas of Nassau County at the time.
The jetliner, a Boeing 737 operated by the Colombian carrier Aires, shattered into three pieces on impact.
The jetliner hit at a spot roughly between a renovated section and one that had not yet been renovated.
The jetliner appeared to gain altitude as it passed over a ridge but then made a sharp right turn and disappeared over a tree line, Mr. Butler said.
The jetliner crashed in Ukraine in pro-Russian rebel-held territory on 17 July, 2014, killing all 298 people on board, including 28 Australians.
The jetliner disappeared as it was circling across the rugged mountains of Nariño Province in southwestern Colombia to make its approach at the tiny airport in Tulcán.
The jetliner transmits telemetry data that could have alerted the airline's maintenance base of a problem.
The jetliner was brought down on July 17 on a flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.
The jetliner was at an altitude of about 9,000 feet and east of Santa Monica at the time, Gregor said.
