A Learjet 60 bound for the Bahamas from Austin, Texas, dove nose-first onto a busy Palm Beach County road Sunday afternoon, killing all nine people aboard, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said. Gov. Ron DeSantis said no one on the ground was hurt.
The jet came down around 12:50 p.m. on Military Trail, a six-lane commercial road, between Cresthaven Boulevard and 10th Avenue North in the Greenacres community. The site sits at the entrance to a mobile home park, roughly nine miles from President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate.
It was like a missile coming down and a massive explosion, debris going everywhere.
Ron DeSantis, Florida governor
A rapid fall and a cockpit emergency
Federal Aviation Administration data showed the plane falling at roughly 350 feet per second. Its altitude collapsed to 8,750 feet from 35,250 feet in slightly more than a minute before impact, the agency said.
In air traffic control audio, a crew member first reported moderate turbulence, said the crew was dealing with ice and precipitation, and asked to climb. The same voice then reported a descent of 10,000 feet per minute before declaring an emergency and an overspeed condition at 20,000 feet per minute.
About 35 seconds after that mayday, the final words from the cockpit said time had run out. Thunderstorms had been reported in the area when the jet went down, though officials have not identified a cause.
Evacuations and a closed road
The National Transportation Safety Board is sending a go-team to lead the investigation, with investigators expected Sunday and Monday morning. Duffy said the FAA was dispatching its own team to assist.
About 600 residents of the nearby trailer community were evacuated. County Commissioner Joel Flores said the Red Cross was providing initial help and that displaced residents were being moved to two county shelters because the area is being treated as a crime scene.
Unfortunately, that's a crime scene. They're investigating that, so the people can't stay there.
Joel Flores, Palm Beach County District 3 commissioner
Questions about the flight
Palm Beach County Fire Rescue declared a mass casualty incident. Officials said the impact left a crater in the roadway and damaged infrastructure, including water lines, and that the road would stay closed for at least 30 days.
Authorities have not said who was aboard. An Austin-Bergstrom International Airport spokesperson, Jim Reynolds, said the jet was a private aircraft, and the FAA described it as a 22-year-old twin-engine plane headed for North Eleuthera.
Records show the jet belongs to a private company and has previously been rented out. Trump, who spent Sunday morning at Mar-a-Lago, left a nearby airport on Air Force One about an hour before the crash.
