Nine Dead After Learjet Nose-Dives Into Palm Beach County Neighborhood

Nine people died when a Learjet 60 crashed into a residential area in Palm Beach County, Florida, on Sunday, November 1. The aircraft was traveling from Austin, Texas, to the Bahamas. U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed the death toll in a post on X, describing the event as a horrific tragedy. The Federal Aviation Administration stated the crash occurred at approximately 12:50 p.m. Eastern time. No cause has been determined yet.

The jet struck the ground near Military Trail, between Cresthaven Boulevard and 10th Avenue North. This location is in Greenacres, a city of about 45,000 people located roughly seven miles southwest of West Palm Beach. The site is about four miles south of the airport in West Palm Beach, which was renamed President Donald J. Trump International Airport earlier this year. The impact created a large crater near the roadway. Flames flickered around chunks of pavement lining the crater.

Witnesses described a violent scene. Anthony Blackmon, who said 6 he was about 500 feet from the crash, said debris hit his house and everything was on fire. Roger Forcelle reported feeling the aircraft pass over his home and described the house shaking. Andrew Mannino said he heard and felt a boom and the power immediately went out. A woman working nearby said the electricity had been out for about two hours. Another person who saw the aftermath said it looked like a meteor hit the ground.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis visited the scene and spoke to reporters. He described the crash as cataclysmic, comparing the fall to a missile going down. DeSantis said 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 from Palm Beach County first responders. The governor added that the debris field stretched a long distance.

Air traffic control recordings reveal the final moments of the flight. The jet was flying east at approximately 35,000 feet. The pilots reported turbulence, icing, and precipitation. They requested a climb of 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. The turbulence was bouncing the jet by as much as 700 feet.

The descent began rapidly after the precipitation report. The pilot radioed that the jet was descending 8,000. The call quickly escalated to a mayday, with the descent rate increasing to 10,000 feet per minute. The pilot then reported an overspeed condition with a descent of 20,000 feet per minute. The pilot said, "We're going to crash into the ground." CBS News reported the pilot also said, "We're out of time." The plane banked sharply to the right before hitting the ground at a steep angle.

Flight tracking data from ADS-B Exchange showed a drop of 27,000 feet in about one minute before the data connection was lost. 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 aircraft beyond its design limits, the AP reported. The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation. The NTSB 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.

Weather conditions at the time included scattered storms. The jet passed through a stronger storm cell shortly before it began to descend. The FAA had issued a convective SIGMET for the area, warning of thunderstorms that threaten aircraft. Heavy rain fell across the region on Sunday, and the National Weather Service had a flood watch in effect through Monday afternoon. It is not yet known if the weather played a role in the crash. In January 2024, the NTSB issued a safety alert on in-flight icing, noting that ice can prevent airplanes from maintaining level flight.

Mary Schiavo, a CNN aviation analyst and former inspector general of the U.S. Transportation Department, said the dashcam video will be important to investigators. She stated that the descent was not controlled. She suggested that the steep dive could have torn parts off the plane and that the flight recorder might have been destroyed in the explosion. It is not 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. Records show this jet was offered for charter flights.

The aircraft was registered as N722BD. FAA registry data lists it as a Learjet 60 owned by LR60271 LLC of Wilmington, Delaware. The jet is listed online as available for charter. Officials have not yet said who operated the specific flight on Sunday. Jim Reynolds, a spokesperson for Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, said the jet was a private aircraft. He could not say who was on the flight. Officials had not released the names of the nine people killed or said how many were passengers and how many were crew.

About 600 people in a nearby mobile home community had to leave their homes on Sunday night. The crash scene blocks the entrance to the park and is being treated as a crime scene while federal investigators work. No official has alleged that a crime took place. Palm Beach County Commissioner Joel Flores, who represents District 3, said he was the first county official at the scene. He stated that residents were being sent to two county shelters. The Red Cross was standing by, and Palm Tran buses were ready to transport residents once law enforcement allowed the evacuation.

Palm Beach County closed Military Trail between 10th Avenue North and Purdy Lane/Alameda Drive until further notice. Only emergency vehicles are allowed on the road. The county told drivers to use 10th Avenue North and Purdy Lane/Alameda Drive for east-west travel. Haverhill Road and Kirk Road were recommended for north-south travel. A county commissioner warned that parts of the road could stay closed for an extended time because of the crater. The timeline for reopening also depends on the progress of the federal investigation.

This is the deadliest crash 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 show this is the second deadliest crash in the United States this year. In June, a skydiving plane crash in Butler, Missouri, killed 12 people. The Learjet brand was made famous by wealthy travelers in the 1960s. Canadian manufacturer Bombardier most recently built the aircraft. The company stopped making new Learjets in 2021 but still supports the planes currently in service.