Learjet Plunges From the Sky and Kills Nine in Palm Beach County

A private business jet traveling from Texas to the Bahamas crashed Sunday afternoon. All nine people aboard the aircraft died when the jet crashed into a residential area in Palm Beach County, Florida.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed the fatalities in a post on X, describing the event as a horrific tragedy. The Federal Aviation Administration reported that the impact occurred at approximately 12:50 p.m. Eastern time. The aircraft had departed Austin-Bergstrom International Airport and was heading to North Eleuthera Airport in the Bahamas.

The jet struck the ground near Military Trail, between Cresthaven Boulevard and 10th Avenue North in the city of Greenacres. The location sits roughly seven miles southwest of West Palm Beach and four miles south of the West Palm Beach airport. Sheriff’s officials placed the crash in Greenacres, and the crater was only feet from homes.

Air traffic control recordings captured the rapid deterioration of the flight. The pilots reported encountering light clear ice, moderate turbulence, and precipitation. They requested a climb of 2,000 feet while flying at approximately 35,000 feet. The pilot noted an outside air temperature of minus 47 degrees Celsius and turbulence that displaced the aircraft by up to 700 feet.

The descent began abruptly after the pilots reported the weather conditions. The pilot radioed a mayday call, stating the aircraft was descending at 10,000 feet per minute. The rate increased to 20,000 feet per minute and then as high as 30,000 feet per minute. The pilot stated the jet was in an overspeed condition and announced that the plane was going to crash into the ground.

Flight tracking data from ADS-B Exchange showed the jet lost 27,000 feet in about one minute before the signal disappeared. The FAA said the aircraft fell from 35,250 feet to 8,750 feet in the final minute of flight. The jet banked sharply to the right before striking the ground at a steep angle.

Residents in the area described the impact as violent. Anthony Blackmon, who was about 500 feet from the crash site, said debris hit his house and the road was on fire. He said everything was on fire. Roger Forcelle said the aircraft passed over his home, shaking the structure before crashing less than half a mile away. Andrew Mannino said he heard and felt the boom and that the power immediately went out.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis visited the scene and described the crash as cataclysmic. He said the jet looked like a missile going down and left a large crater on the side of the road. DeSantis stated that no one on the ground had been reported killed or injured at the time of his news conference. He praised local first responders for their quick response to the incident.

Video recorded by drivers on the road captured the jet plunging from the sky and exploding near the pavement. Flames flickered around chunks of pavement lining the crater, which was located inches from passing vehicles. The road buckled where the jet struck, and thick black smoke rose from the debris field.

About 600 residents in a nearby mobile home community were forced to leave their homes Sunday night. The crash scene blocks the entrance to the park and is being treated as a crime scene while federal investigators work, county officials said. No official has alleged a crime occurred. Palm Beach County Commissioner Joel Flores, the first county official on scene, said residents were being sent to two county shelters and the Red Cross was standing by.

County officials closed Military Trail between 10th Avenue North and Purdy Lane or Alameda Drive until further notice. Only emergency vehicles were allowed on the closed section. Drivers were directed to use 10th Avenue North, Purdy Lane, Alameda Drive, Haverhill Road, and Kirk Road for alternate routes. A county commissioner warned that the road could remain closed for an extended period due to the crater and the ongoing federal investigation.

The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation and launched a go-team on Sunday. Investigators were expected to arrive Sunday and Monday morning. The NTSB scheduled a media briefing in West Palm Beach for Monday. No cause for the crash has been determined. The NTSB issued a safety alert in January 2024 warning that in-flight icing can make managing airspeed and flightpath difficult.

Mary Schiavo, a former U.S. Transportation Department inspector general and aviation analyst, said dashcam video will be important to investigators and that the descent was not controlled. She said the steep dive could have torn parts off the aircraft and that a flight recorder could have been destroyed in the explosion. It is unclear if the jet carried a cockpit voice recorder. FAA rules require multi-engine jets to carry one only when flown for hire, and records show this jet was available for charter.

The aircraft is a Learjet 60 with registration N722BD. The FAA registry lists it as owned by LR60271 LLC of Wilmington, Delaware. The crash is the deadliest involving a Learjet 60, according to Flight Safety Foundation data. In 2008, four people were killed when a Learjet 60 bound for Los Angeles crashed on takeoff in Columbia, South Carolina. This is the second deadliest crash in the United States this year, following a skydiving plane accident in Butler, Missouri, that killed 12 people in June. Bombardier most recently built Learjets and stopped making new ones in 2021, though it still supports the planes in service.