Governor Calls Learjet Crash Cataclysmic as Nine Die in Palm Beach County
The business jet descended at rates as high as 30,000 feet per minute after pilots reported ice and turbulence, crashing near a busy road in Greenacres.
By Rafael Bailey ·
All nine people aboard a Learjet 60 business jet died on Sunday, November 1, when the aircraft plummeted from an altitude of 35,250 feet to crash into a neighborhood in Palm Beach County, Florida. The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed the impact occurred at approximately 12:50 p.m. Eastern time near Military Trail in the city of Greenacres. The jet had departed Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas and was heading to North Eleuthera Airport in the Bahamas.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy labeled the event a horrific tragedy in a post on the social media platform X. He stated that the FAA is dispatching a team to assist the National Transportation Safety Board, which is leading the investigation. The NTSB said Sunday it was launching a go-team, with investigators expected to arrive Sunday and Monday morning. A media briefing is scheduled for Monday in West Palm Beach. No cause for the crash has been identified yet.
The crash site is located between Cresthaven Boulevard and 10th Avenue North, roughly four miles south of the President Donald J. Trump International Airport in West Palm Beach. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis visited the scene and described the event as a cataclysmic plane crash that looked like a missile descending. He noted that the impact left a large crater beside the road. DeSantis reported that no one on the ground was killed or injured at the time of his press conference, though the debris field extended a significant distance.
Air traffic control recordings show the pilots reported light clear ice, moderate turbulence, and precipitation while flying east at about 35,000 feet. The pilot requested to climb 2,000 feet and noted an outside air temperature of minus 47 degrees Celsius. Minutes later, the situation deteriorated rapidly. The pilot radioed a mayday call, stating the aircraft was descending at 10,000 feet per minute, and later said it was in an overspeed condition descending 20,000 feet per minute.
The descent rate accelerated to 20,000 and then as high as 30,000 feet per minute, pushing the jet beyond its design limits. Flight tracking data from ADS-B Exchange shows the aircraft dropped 27,000 feet in about one minute before the signal was lost. The FAA indicated the jet fell from 35,250 feet to 8,750 feet in the final minute. The pilot stated the aircraft was going to crash into the ground, and 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.
Video from nearby cars captured the jet plunging from the sky, striking near the roadway, and exploding. Thick black smoke covered the site, and flames flickered around chunks of pavement lining the crater. The crash was close to homes and passing vehicles. WPBF video showed the road surface buckled where the jet made impact. The FAA had issued a convective SIGMET for the area, warning of thunderstorms that threaten aircraft. Scattered storms were present, and the jet passed through a stronger storm cell before beginning its descent.
Anthony Blackmon, a resident about 500 feet from the crash, said 6 that debris hit his house and everything was on fire. He said the road was ablaze. Roger Forcelle stated that the aircraft shook his house as it passed overhead and crashed probably less than half a mile from his home. Andrew Mannino said that he heard a boom, the power went out, and he smelled smoke while seeing a large black cloud rise. A woman working nearby said the electricity had been out for about two hours.
About 600 residents in a nearby mobile home community were forced to leave their homes on Sunday night. The crash scene blocks the entrance to the mobile home park and is being treated as a crime scene while federal investigators work, county officials said. No official has alleged that a crime occurred. Palm Beach County Commissioner Joel Flores, who represents District 3, said 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 approved the evacuation.
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 advised 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 might remain closed for an extended period due to the crater and the ongoing federal investigation.
The FAA registry lists the jet as owned by LR60271 LLC of Wilmington, Delaware. Officials have not said who operated Sunday's flight. The registration number is N722BD. Records show the jet is listed online as available for charter flights. Jim Reynolds, a spokesperson for Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, said the jet was a private aircraft and could not say who was on the flight. The crash is the deadliest ever involving a Learjet 60, according to Flight Safety Foundation data. It is also the second deadliest crash in the United States this year, following a skydiving plane crash in Butler, Missouri, in June that killed 12 people.
Learjet, the brand made famous by Bill Lear’s Lear 23 in the 1960s, was most recently built by Canadian manufacturer Bombardier. Bombardier stopped making new Learjets in 2021 but still supports the planes in service. Mary Schiavo, a CNN aviation analyst and former inspector general of the U.S. Transportation Department, said dashcam video will be important to investigators. She said the descent was not controlled and that it was clear the pilots had lost control of the plane, whatever happened. The steep dive could have torn parts off the plane, and a flight recorder might have been destroyed in the explosion. It is not known if the jet carried a cockpit voice recorder, as FAA rules only require multi-engine jets to carry one when flown for hire.
The NTSB issued a safety alert on in-flight icing in January 2024, warning that ice can make managing the airplane's flightpath and airspeed more difficult. Heavy rain fell across the region on Sunday, and the National Weather Service had a flood watch in effect through Monday afternoon. Whether the weather played a part in the crash has not been determined.
