Nine Die When Learjet Crashes in Palm Beach County

Nine people lost their lives Sunday afternoon when a private business jet plummeted from the sky and struck a roadway in Greenacres, a city in Palm Beach County, Florida. The aircraft, identified as a Learjet 60, nose-dived into a neighborhood and exploded near Military Trail, a busy road. The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed the impact occurred at approximately 12:50 p.m. Eastern time. At the time of the accident, the jet was traveling from Austin, Texas, to the Bahamas.

Power went out nearby, and a woman working in the area said the electricity had been out for about two hours. The road where the jet hit was closed to all traffic except emergency vehicles, forcing drivers to reroute around the site. About 600 residents in a nearby mobile home community were ordered to evacuate their homes for the night. The entrance to that community was blocked by the crash scene, which is being treated as a crime scene while federal investigators work, county officials said. No official has alleged that a crime took place.

The flight departed Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. The aircraft was flying east at an altitude of roughly 35,000 feet when the crew contacted air traffic control. Pilots reported encountering turbulence, icing, and precipitation. They asked to climb 2,000 feet. Minutes before the crash, the pilot reported an outside air temperature of minus 47 degrees Celsius. The pilot also reported turbulence that was bouncing the jet by as much as 700 feet.

The situation deteriorated rapidly after the request to climb. The pilot radioed a mayday. The pilot said "We're descending 8,000" and then "we're descending 10,000 feet per minute." The pilot then reported descending 20,000 feet per minute. The pilot stated the aircraft was in an overspeed condition. According to air traffic control recordings, the pilot said the jet was going to crash into the ground. CBS News reported the pilot also said, "We're out of time."

The FAA said the jet fell from 35,250 feet to 8,750 feet in one minute just before the crash. The descent rate reached as high as 30,000 feet per minute, pushing the jet beyond its design limits, the AP reported. The plane banked sharply to the right before impacting the ground at a steep angle. Duffy said the jet nose-dived into a neighborhood. The jet had been flying through an area where the FAA had issued a convective SIGMET, a warning for thunderstorms that pose a threat to aircraft. Scattered storms were present in the region at the time.

Local residents described the moment of impact in vivid detail. Anthony Blackmon, who was about 500 feet from the crash, said debris hit his house. He said everything was on fire, including the road. Roger Forcelle stated that the aircraft passed over his home, shaking the entire structure. He estimated the crash occurred less than half a mile from his residence. Andrew Mannino heard and felt the boom. His power went out immediately and was still out. He described a large black cloud rising into the air and the smell of smoke. One witness said the aftermath looked as if a meteor had struck the ground.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis went to the scene. He described the event as a cataclysmic plane crash. DeSantis told reporters it looked like a missile going down and left a large crater on the side of the road. He noted that no one on the ground had been reported killed or injured at the time of his briefing. The governor praised the quick response of Palm Beach County first responders. The debris field stretched a long distance from the point of impact.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy addressed the tragedy on social media. He called it a horrific tragedy. Duffy announced that the FAA was sending a team to the scene to support the investigation. He asked the public to join him in praying for the families and loved ones of those who died. The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation. The agency said it was launching a go-team. Investigators were expected to arrive on Sunday and Monday morning. The NTSB scheduled a media briefing in West Palm Beach for Monday. No cause for the crash has been determined yet.

Jim Reynolds, a spokesperson for Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, confirmed the jet was a private aircraft. He said he could not say who was on the flight, and officials had not released the names of the nine people killed. He did not specify how many were passengers and how many were crew members. Reynolds described the event as a definite tragedy. The FAA noted that its information regarding the number of people on board was preliminary. The aircraft was registered to LR60271 LLC of Wilmington, Delaware. Records show the jet was offered for charter flights online.

Palm Beach County Commissioner Joel Flores was the first county official at the scene. He said the approximately 600 displaced residents were being sent to two county shelters. The Red Cross was standing by to assist. Palm Tran buses were ready to transport residents once law enforcement allowed the evacuation. The county closed Military Trail between 10th Avenue North and Purdy Lane/Alameda Drive until further notice. Officials directed drivers to use alternate routes for east-west and 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.

Mary Schiavo, an aviation analyst and former inspector general for the U.S. Department of Transportation, said dashcam video will be important to investigators. She stated that the steep dive was not a controlled descent. She said it was clear that the crew had lost control of the plane at that point. Schiavo noted that the rapid descent could have torn parts off the aircraft. She added that a flight recorder may have been destroyed in the explosion. It is not yet known if the jet carried a cockpit voice recorder. FAA rules require multi-engine jets to carry one only when they are flown for hire.

The jet, registered as N722BD, is a Learjet 60, a brand most recently built by Canadian manufacturer Bombardier. Bombardier stopped building new Learjets in 2021 but continues to support the aircraft in service. This crash is the deadliest ever involving a Learjet 60, according to Flight Safety Foundation data. In 2008, four people died when a Learjet 60 crashed on takeoff in Columbia, South Carolina. NTSB records indicate this is the second deadliest crash in the United States this year. The first was a skydiving plane crash in Butler, Missouri, in June that killed 12 people.

Heavy rain fell across the region on Sunday. The National Weather Service maintained a flood watch through Monday afternoon. In January 2024, the NTSB issued a safety alert regarding in-flight icing. The alert warned that ice can make managing the airplane's flightpath and airspeed more difficult. It can also prevent the airplane from maintaining level flight. Whether the weather conditions played a role in the crash has not been determined.