Palm Beach County Learjet Plunge Kills Nine in Florida Neighborhood

A Learjet 60 business jet crashed into a residential area in Palm Beach County, Florida, on Sunday, killing all nine people on board. The aircraft descended from an altitude of 35,250 feet to just 8,750 feet in a single minute before impacting the ground near Military Trail in Greenacres. Officials said the jet exploded near a busy road and left a big crater on the side of the road. The FAA said the crash occurred at about 12:50 p.m. Eastern time.

The Federal Aviation Administration stated that the jet departed from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas and was en route to North Eleuthera Airport in the Bahamas. An airport spokesperson said the aircraft was private, though records show it was offered for charter flights. The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation and said Sunday it was launching a go-team, with investigators expected to arrive Sunday and Monday morning. A media briefing is scheduled for Monday in West Palm Beach. No cause for the accident has been determined yet.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy described the event as a horrific tragedy in a social media post. He confirmed that the FAA is sending a team to support the NTSB's efforts. Duffy asked the public to pray for the families of the victims. Jim Reynolds, a spokesperson for Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, said the jet was a private aircraft. He said he could not say who was on the flight. Reynolds said, "This is definitely a tragedy."

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis visited the crash site and spoke to reporters about the severity of the impact. He described the scene as cataclysmic, noting that the jet looked like a missile as it fell. DeSantis mentioned that the crash left a significant crater on the side of the road. He said there were no reports of anyone on the ground being killed or injured at the time of the news conference. The governor praised the quick response of Palm Beach County first responders and said the debris field stretched a long distance.

Video footage captured by witnesses in nearby vehicles shows the jet plunging from the sky and striking the area near the roadway. The impact generated a massive explosion and thick black smoke that covered the site. Flames were seen flickering around chunks of pavement lining the crater, which was located only feet from homes. The force of the crash buckled the road surface, as shown in video from WPBF.

Residents near the crash site described what they saw and felt. Anthony Blackmon, who said 6 he was about 500 feet from the crash, said debris hit his house and everything was on fire. He said he had always seen such things on the news but never thought it would happen so close to somebody. Roger Forcelle reported that the aircraft shook his house as it flew over his property. He estimated the crash occurred less than half a mile from where he lived. Andrew Mannino said he heard and felt the boom and the power immediately went out. He said he smelled smoke and saw a large black cloud rise into the air.

The crash disrupted life for hundreds of residents in the area. County officials said about 600 people in a nearby mobile home community had to leave their homes Sunday night. The evacuation was necessary because the crash scene blocks the entrance to the mobile home park and is being treated as a crime scene while federal investigators work. County Commissioner Joel Flores, who represents District 3 and was the first county official at the scene, said residents were being sent to two county shelters. The Red Cross is on standby, and Palm Tran buses are ready to transport residents once law enforcement clears the way. No official has alleged that a crime occurred.

Traffic in the area remains heavily restricted. Palm Beach County closed Military Trail between 10th Avenue North and Purdy Lane/Alameda Drive, allowing only emergency vehicles to pass. Drivers are being directed to use 10th Avenue North and Purdy Lane/Alameda Drive for east-west travel. For north-south travel, officials recommend using Haverhill Road and Kirk Road. A county commissioner warned that the road closure could last an extended period due to the crater left by the jet. The timeline for reopening the road also depends on the federal investigation.

Air traffic control recordings reveal the rapid deterioration of the flight's status. The pilots reported turbulence, icing, and precipitation while flying at about 35,000 feet. They asked to climb 2,000 feet. Minutes before the crash, the pilot told the Miami Air Route Traffic Control Center that the ice was light and clear, and the turbulence was moderate. The pilot reported an outside air temperature of minus 47 degrees Celsius. The jet was bouncing by as much as 700 feet due to the turbulence, according to the recording captured by LiveATC.net.

The descent began abruptly after the pilots reported precipitation. The pilot radioed, "We're descending 8,000, mayday, mayday, we're descending 10,000 feet per minute." The pilot then announced an overspeed condition while descending at 20,000 feet per minute. The pilot stated that they were going to crash into the ground. CBS News reported that the pilot also said, "We're out of time." The descent rate reached as high as 30,000 feet per minute, pushing the jet beyond its design limits. The plane banked sharply to the right before hitting the ground at a steep angle. Flight tracking site ADS-B Exchange showed a drop of 27,000 feet in about a minute before the data cut off, CNN reported.

Whether the weather played a part has not been determined. Scattered storms were in the area, and the jet passed through a stronger storm cell shortly before the descent. The FAA had issued a convective SIGMET, warning of thunderstorms that threaten aircraft. Heavy rain fell across the region on Sunday, and the National Weather Service had a flood watch in effect through Monday afternoon. In January 2024, the NTSB issued a safety alert on in-flight icing, warning that ice can make managing the airplane's flightpath more difficult. The alert also said ice can prevent the airplane from maintaining level flight.

Mary Schiavo, a CNN aviation analyst, stated that the descent was not controlled. She said it is clear that the crew had lost control of the plane at that point. The steep angle could have torn parts off the aircraft, potentially destroying the flight recorder in the explosion. It is not known whether the jet carried a cockpit voice recorder. FAA rules require multi-engine jets to carry one only when they are flown for hire. Records show the jet was offered for charter flights, which may influence whether the recorder was mandatory. The aircraft, registered as N722BD, is listed in the FAA registry as a Learjet 60 owned by LR60271 LLC of Wilmington, Delaware.

The crash is the deadliest ever involving a Learjet 60, according to data from the Flight Safety Foundation. The previous worst incident for this model occurred in 2008, when four people were killed in a takeoff crash in Columbia, South Carolina. NTSB records show that this is the second deadliest crash in the United States this year. The first was a skydiving plane crash in Butler, Missouri, in June, which killed 12 people. The Learjet brand, made famous by wealthy travelers in the 1960s, was last built by Bombardier. The Canadian manufacturer stopped producing new Learjets in 2021 but continues to support the planes still in service. Flight tracking and FAA registry data identify the jet by its registration, N722BD.