Palm Beach County Jet Crash: Nine Dead After 27,000-Foot Dive

All nine people aboard a Learjet 60 died Sunday when the aircraft nosedived into a Palm Beach County neighborhood and exploded near a busy roadway.

The crash occurred at approximately 12:50 p.m. Eastern Time, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The jet had departed Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas and was heading for North Eleuthera Airport in the Bahamas.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy described the event as a horrific tragedy in a social media post. He stated that the FAA was dispatching a team to assist the National Transportation Safety Board, which is leading the investigation. The NTSB launched a go-team on Sunday and scheduled a media briefing for Monday in West Palm Beach. No cause has been determined.

The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office placed the crash site near Military Trail, between Cresthaven Boulevard and 10th Avenue North in Greenacres. This city of approximately 45,000 people lies about seven miles southwest of West Palm Beach. The site is about four miles south of the West Palm Beach airport, which was renamed President Donald J. Trump International Airport earlier this year. CNN reported that President Trump departed from that airport on Air Force One more than an hour before the crash.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis visited the scene and described the crash as cataclysmic. He told reporters the jet looked like a missile descending and left a large crater beside the road. DeSantis said there were no initial reports of ground casualties and praised the quick response from local first responders. He noted that the debris field stretched a significant distance from the impact point.

Witnesses described the moment of impact with vivid details. Anthony Blackmon, a resident located about 500 feet from the site, said debris hit his house and everything was on fire. He recalled thinking the event would never happen so close to his home. Roger Forcelle said the aircraft shook his entire house as it passed overhead, crashing probably less than half a mile away. Andrew Mannino reported hearing a boom and feeling a loss of power, which was still out. Another witness described the aftermath as looking like a meteor strike.

Video recorded by nearby drivers captured the jet plunging from the sky and striking near the roadway. The impact caused the road to buckle, and flames flickered around chunks of pavement lining the crater. Thick black smoke covered the site, and the crater was inches from passing vehicles and feet from homes.

Approximately 600 residents of a nearby mobile home community had to leave their homes Sunday night. County officials stated that the crash scene blocks the entrance to the park and is being treated as a crime scene for federal investigators. No official has alleged a crime took place. 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. He confirmed that the Red Cross was standing by and that Palm Tran buses were ready to transport residents once law enforcement cleared the way.

Palm Beach County 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 county 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.

Air traffic control recordings and flight tracking data provide a timeline of the final minutes. The jet was flying east at about 35,000 feet when pilots reported turbulence, icing, and precipitation. They requested to climb 2,000 feet. Minutes before the crash, the pilot told the Miami Air Route Traffic Control Center that they had light, clear ice that is manageable and moderate turbulence. The pilot reported an outside air temperature of minus 47 degrees Celsius and turbulence that bounced the jet by up to 700 feet.

The situation deteriorated rapidly after the request to climb. The pilot radioed, We're descending 8,000, mayday, mayday, we're descending 10,000 feet per minute. The descent rate increased to 10,000 feet per minute, then 20,000 feet per minute, and finally as high as 30,000 feet per minute. The pilot stated they were in an overspeed condition and said, We're going to crash into the ground. CBS News reported the pilot also said, We're out of time. The FAA stated the jet fell from 35,250 feet to 8,750 feet in one minute. Flight tracking data showed a drop of 27,000 feet in about a minute before the signal was lost.

The jet banked sharply to the right before hitting the ground at a steep angle. Scattered storms were in the area, and the plane passed through a stronger storm cell shortly before the descent began. The FAA had issued a convective SIGMET warning of thunderstorms in the region. Heavy rain fell across the area Sunday, and the National Weather Service had a flood watch in effect through Monday afternoon. Whether the weather contributed to the crash has not been determined.

Mary Schiavo, a former U.S. Transportation Department inspector general and aviation analyst, said dashcam video would be important to investigators. She noted that the descent was not controlled, indicating the pilots had lost control of the plane. The steep dive could have torn parts off the aircraft, and the flight recorder may have been destroyed in the explosion. It is unknown if the jet carried a cockpit voice recorder. FAA rules require multi-engine jets to carry one only when flown for hire, and records show the jet was available for charter.

Flight tracking and FAA registry data identify the jet by registration number N722BD. The aircraft is listed as a Learjet 60 owned by LR60271 LLC of Wilmington, Delaware. CNN reported the jet is listed online as available for charter. Officials have not identified who operated Sunday's flight. According to Flight Safety Foundation data, this is the deadliest crash involving a Learjet 60. The previous worst incident occurred in 2008 when four people died in a takeoff crash in Columbia, South Carolina. NTSB records show this is the second deadliest crash in the United States this year, following a skydiving plane crash in Butler, Missouri, that killed 12 people in June.