Learjet Nose-Dives Into Palm Beach Neighborhood, Killing All 9 Aboard
The business jet left Austin bound for the Bahamas and crashed near a mobile home park in Cresthaven; no one on the ground was hurt, and about 600 residents were evacuated.
A business jet carrying nine people nose-dived and crashed near homes in Palm Beach County, Florida, on Sunday afternoon, killing everyone on board, officials said. No one on the ground was injured.
The Federal Aviation Administration said the Learjet 60 went down just before 1 p.m. The aircraft had taken off from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas and was headed to the Bahamas. Jim Reynolds, a spokesperson for the Austin airport, told The Associated Press the jet was a private aircraft, but he could not immediately say who was on the flight.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis described the scene at a news conference. "It was like a missile coming down and a massive explosion, debris going everywhere," DeSantis said. "And to have those people on board, it's really a tragic way to see people pass away." He confirmed that no one on the ground was hurt, even though the jet came down close to a mobile home park in the Cresthaven area. Local officials said about 600 people were evacuated from the surrounding neighborhood as emergency crews worked the site.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed on X that all nine people aboard had died. "Please join me in praying for the families and loved ones of those we lost," Duffy wrote.
Air traffic control audio captured on LiveATC.net records the crew's final moments. The pilot can be heard reporting a descent of 10,000 feet per minute. The pilot then declared an emergency and said, "We are in an overspeed condition descending 20,000 feet per minute." The last transmission to the tower was, "We're gonna crash ... We're out of time." For comparison, a typical airliner descent runs at only a small fraction of those rates, and an overspeed warning means an aircraft is flying faster than its structure is designed to handle.
Video from dashboard cameras in cars nearby captured the moment the aircraft plunged from the sky. A witness quoted by CBS News said the impact sounded like a bomb going off.
The National Transportation Safety Board said it was launching a go-team, its rapid-response investigative unit, to the crash site. Investigators were expected to arrive Sunday, with more reaching the scene Monday morning. The agency typically examines the aircraft's wreckage, maintenance records, the flight data and air traffic recordings, and the crew's history. Officials have not said what caused the jet to enter its steep dive, and the NTSB's preliminary findings usually take several weeks.
The Palm Beach Sheriff's Office closed all northbound and southbound lanes of Military Trail near Cresthaven Boulevard and 10th Avenue North until further notice while the response continued. Officials had not released the names of the nine victims by Sunday night, pending notification of families.
The Learjet 60 is a midsize twin-engine business jet that has been in service for decades and is widely used for charter and private travel. The NTSB is expected to draw on the air traffic audio and radar data from the flight as its investigation moves forward.
