Palm Beach County Crash: Nine Killed After Learjet Dives 27,000 Feet

Nine people lost their lives on Sunday when a Learjet 60 business jet fell from the sky and struck a neighborhood in Palm Beach County, Florida. The aircraft was heading from Austin, Texas, to the Bahamas when it began a rapid, uncontrolled descent. U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed the fatalities, describing the event as a horrific tragedy in a post on social media.

The crash occurred at approximately 12:50 p.m. Eastern time, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The jet hit the ground near Military Trail, between Cresthaven Boulevard and 10th Avenue North in Greenacres. This location is roughly seven miles southwest of West Palm Beach and about four miles south of the President Donald J. Trump International Airport.

In the minutes leading up to the impact, the pilots communicated with air traffic control about deteriorating conditions. They reported encountering light, clear ice and moderate turbulence. The pilot noted an outside air temperature of minus 47 degrees Celsius and described turbulence that was bouncing the aircraft by as much as 700 feet. The jet was flying at an altitude of about 35,000 feet when these issues began.

The situation changed fast after the pilots reported precipitation and asked to climb 2,000 feet. The pilot then radioed that the jet was descending at 10,000 feet per minute and issued a mayday call. The pilot then said the aircraft was in an overspeed condition descending 20,000 feet per minute. The pilot said the plane was going to crash into the ground, and CBS News reported the pilot also said, "We're out of time."

Flight tracking site ADS-B Exchange showed a drop of 27,000 feet in about a minute before the data cut off, CNN reported. The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation and said Sunday it was launching a go-team. Investigators were expected to arrive Sunday and Monday morning, and the NTSB planned a media briefing in West Palm Beach on Monday. No cause has been determined.

Video recorded by people in nearby cars captured the jet plunging from the sky, striking near the roadway and exploding, the AP reported. The jet plunged from the sky, struck near the roadway, and exploded. A large crater formed in the pavement, with flames flickering around chunks of pavement. The debris field stretched a long distance, and thick black smoke rose from the site. The road surface buckled where the aircraft made contact.

Anthony Blackmon, a resident living about 500 feet from the crash site, described the immediate aftermath. He reported that debris hit his house and that everything, including the road, was on fire. He said he had always seen it on the news but never thought it would happen so close to somebody like how it happened today. Another resident, Roger Forcelle, felt the aircraft pass over his home and said the whole house shook before it crashed probably less than half a mile from where he lives.

Andrew Mannino told CNN that he heard and felt the boom and the power immediately went out. A woman working nearby said the electricity had been out for about two hours. He smelled smoke and saw a large black cloud rise into the air. One witness described the scene as looking like a meteor had hit the ground. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis visited the scene and said the crash looked like a missile going down, leaving a big crater on the side of the road.

DeSantis stated that there were no reports of people on the ground being killed or injured at the time of his news conference. He praised the quick response of Palm Beach County first responders. The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office placed the crash site in Greenacres, a city of about 45,000 people. Jim Reynolds, a spokesperson for Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, told the Associated Press the jet was a private aircraft and could not say who was on the flight. Officials had not released the names of the nine people killed.

About 600 residents in a nearby mobile home community were forced to leave their homes on Sunday night. The crash scene blocked the entrance to the mobile home park, and the area was treated as a crime scene while federal investigators worked. Palm Beach County Commissioner Joel Flores, who was the first county official on scene, said residents were being sent to two county shelters. The Red Cross was on standby, and Palm Tran buses were ready to transport residents once law enforcement allowed the evacuation.

County officials closed Military Trail between 10th Avenue North and Purdy Lane/Alameda Drive until further notice. The road is open only to emergency vehicles. Drivers were directed to use 10th Avenue North and Purdy Lane/Alameda Drive for east-west travel, and Haverhill Road and Kirk Road for north-south travel. A commissioner warned that parts of the road could remain closed for an extended period because of the crater, and officials said the timeline also depends on the federal investigation.

Scattered storms were present in the area, and the jet passed through a stronger storm cell a few minutes before the descent began. The FAA had issued a convective SIGMET, a warning of thunderstorms that threaten aircraft, for the region. Heavy rain fell across the area on Sunday, and the National Weather Service had a flood watch in effect through Monday afternoon. Whether the weather played a part has not been determined.

The jet, registered as N722BD, is a Learjet 60 owned by LR60271 LLC of Wilmington, Delaware. Records show the aircraft was offered for charter flights. FAA rules require multi-engine jets to carry a cockpit voice recorder only when they are flown for hire. It is not known if this specific jet was equipped with one. The crash is the deadliest ever involving a Learjet 60, according to data from the Flight Safety Foundation.

In January 2024, the NTSB issued a safety alert on in-flight icing. The alert warned that ice can make managing the airplane's flightpath and airspeed more difficult and can prevent the airplane from maintaining level flight. Mary Schiavo, a CNN aviation analyst and former inspector general of the U.S. Transportation Department, said dashcam video will be important to investigators. She noted that the descent was not controlled, indicating the crew had lost control of the plane.

The steep dive may have torn parts off the aircraft, and the flight recorder could have been destroyed in the explosion. The NTSB records show this is the second deadliest crash in the United States this year. It follows a skydiving plane crash in Butler, Missouri, in June that killed 12 people. Learjet, a brand made famous by Bill Lear in the 1960s, was most recently built by Canadian manufacturer Bombardier. Bombardier stopped making new Learjets in 2021 but continues to support the planes in service.