A Learjet crashed on Sunday afternoon in a residential area in Palm Beach County, Florida, killing all nine people on board, US transportation officials said. The private jet had taken off from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas and was headed to North Eleuthera Airport in the Bahamas, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said in a statement.
Videos on social media showed the jet slamming into the ground next to a road and exploding. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, speaking near the crash site in Lake Worth Beach, described the incident as a "big-time tragedy," noting that the footage resembled a missile strike.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has launched an investigation into the crash, which Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy called a "horrific tragedy." FAA records list the Bombardier-made Learjet 60's owner as a Delaware corporation. Canada-based Bombardier stated it would fully support the investigation.
Palm Beach County Commissioner Joel Flores reported that the crash created a "massive crater" near a mobile home park, leading to the evacuation of approximately 600 residents to local shelters. AccuWeather confirmed that heavy thunderstorms were occurring in the area at the time of the catastrophic incident, severely impacting visibility and flight operations.
Audio from the Miami air traffic control center, broadcast via LiveATC, captured the plane's final moments as the crew struggled to maintain control. The cockpit crew initially reported managing icing conditions and "moderate" turbulence during the scheduled cross-country flight.
Within a minute, they issued a "Mayday" call, reporting a descent rate of 10,000 feet per minute, which quickly escalated into an absolute emergency. This rapidly accelerated to 22,000 feet per minute as the crew declared an emergency.
The final transmission, heard 35 seconds after the initial distress call, was a desperate "We're out of time." Flight tracking website Flightradar24 data indicated the vertical descent rate eventually exceeded 32,000 feet per minute.