Transportation Secretary says nine dead as Learjet slams into Palm Beach County neighborhood

All nine people aboard a Learjet 60 died on Sunday, November 1, when the aircraft slammed into a residential area in Palm Beach County, Florida.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said all nine people were killed and called the crash a "horrific tragedy" in a post on X. The Federal Aviation Administration stated the crash occurred at approximately 12:50 p.m. Eastern Time. The jet departed Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas and was headed for North Eleuthera Airport in the Bahamas. The FAA noted that the information regarding the nine people on board is preliminary.

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. The NTSB plans to hold a media briefing in West Palm Beach on Monday. No cause for the crash has been identified yet.

Officials have not yet released the names of the victims or the specific breakdown of crew versus passengers. Jim Reynolds, a spokesperson for Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, described the aircraft as a private plane. He said he could not say who was on the flight, calling the event "definitely a tragedy."

The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office placed the crash site near Military Trail, between Cresthaven Boulevard and 10th Avenue North. The location is in Greenacres, a city with a population of roughly 45,000 people. The site sits 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 was in West Palm Beach earlier that Sunday and departed on Air Force One more than an hour before the crash.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis visited the scene and told reporters the crash was "cataclysmic." He compared the jet's descent to a missile, noting it left a large crater on the side of the road. DeSantis said there were no reports of ground casualties at the time of his news conference. He praised local first responders and noted the debris field stretched a significant distance.

Witnesses captured the jet plummeting from the sky in video recordings. The aircraft struck near the roadway and exploded, sending flames licking around chunks of pavement near homes. Thick black smoke billowed from the site. Video from WPBF showed the road surface buckling at the point of impact. The crater was located only feet from houses and inches from passing vehicles.

Anthony Blackmon, a resident about 500 feet from the crash, described debris hitting his house and the road on fire. He said he had always seen such events on the news but never imagined one would happen so close. Roger Forcelle felt the aircraft pass over his home, stating the house shook before the jet crashed less than half a mile away. Andrew Mannino heard the boom and experienced an immediate power outage. He smelled smoke and saw a large black cloud rise into the air.

About 600 people in a nearby mobile home community were forced to leave their homes Sunday night. County officials said the residents had to leave because the crash scene blocks the entrance to the mobile home park. The site is being treated as a crime scene while federal investigators work. No official has alleged a crime took place. Palm Beach County Commissioner Joel Flores, who was the first county official at the scene, said residents were being moved to two county shelters. He noted that the Red Cross was standing by and Palm Tran buses were ready to transport residents once law enforcement allowed.

Palm Beach County closed Military Trail between 10th Avenue North and Purdy Lane/Alameda Drive until further notice. Only emergency vehicles were permitted to pass. The county directed drivers 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 stay closed for an extended time because of the crater, and officials said the timeline also depends on the federal investigation.

According to air traffic control recordings and flight tracking data reported by the AP, the jet was flying east at approximately 35,000 feet. The pilots reported turbulence, icing, and precipitation, requesting a climb of 2,000 feet. Minutes before the crash, the pilot told the Miami Air Route Traffic Control Center, "We have light, clear ice that is manageable and moderate turbulence." The pilot also reported an outside air temperature of minus 47 degrees Celsius and turbulence causing the jet to bounce by as much as 700 feet, according to recordings captured by LiveATC.net.

After the pilots reported precipitation, the aircraft began a rapid descent. The pilot radioed, "We're descending 8,000, mayday, mayday, we're descending 10,000 feet per minute." The pilot then stated, "We are in an overspeed condition descending 20,000 feet per minute." The pilot later said, "We're going to crash into the ground." CBS News reported the pilot also said, "We're out of time." The descent rate increased to as high as 30,000 feet per minute, pushing the jet beyond its design limits. The plane banked sharply to the right before striking the ground at a steep angle. 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.

Scattered storms were present in the area, and the jet passed through a stronger storm cell shortly before the descent. CNN reported the flight was in a region where the FAA had issued a convective SIGMET, a warning of thunderstorms that threaten aircraft. It is not yet determined if the weather played a role. Heavy rain fell across the region on Sunday, and the National Weather Service had a flood watch in effect through Monday afternoon. The NTSB issued a safety alert on in-flight icing in January 2024, warning that ice can make managing the flightpath and airspeed more difficult.

Mary Schiavo, a CNN aviation analyst and former inspector general of the U.S. Transportation Department, stated that dashcam video will be important to investigators. She noted that the descent was not controlled, indicating the pilots had lost control of the plane. She said the steep dive could have torn parts off the aircraft and that a flight recorder might 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. Records show the jet was offered for charter flights. Flight tracking and FAA registry data identify the jet by registration N722BD. The FAA registry lists it as a Learjet 60 owned by LR60271 LLC of Wilmington, Delaware. Officials have not stated who operated Sunday's flight. The crash is the deadliest ever involving a Learjet 60, according to Flight Safety Foundation data. In 2008, four people died in a Learjet 60 crash in Columbia, South Carolina. NTSB records show it is the second deadliest crash in the United States this year, after a skydiving plane crash in Butler, Missouri, in June that killed 12. Bombardier, the Canadian manufacturer, stopped making new Learjets in 2021 but still supports the planes in service.