A Learjet 60 carrying nine people crashed into a roadway in Palm Beach County on Sunday, November 1, afternoon, killing everyone on board and leaving a massive crater near a mobile home park in what officials call a “cataclysmic” Florida plane crash.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. Dashcam confirmed that the jet, which departed Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas and was bound for North Eleuthera Airport in the Bahamas, went down at about 12:50 p.m. ET near Cresthaven.
Dashcam footage revealed the aircraft falling nose-first before exploding into a fireball, narrowly missing cars and homes.
Air traffic control audio captured the crew’s final moments. The pilot initially reported icing conditions, an outside air temperature of -47 degrees Celsius, and moderate turbulence.
Moments later, the pilot declared “Mayday, mayday,” reporting a descent rate of 10,000 ft per minute before warning: “We’re going to crash into the ground.”
Flight tracking data reported the descent rate exceeded 32,000 ft per minute at one point.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said: “It was a cataclysmic plane crash. It looked like a missile going down and left a big crater on the side of the road.”
Officials said there were no immediate reports of injuries on the ground.
About 600 residents near the crash site were evacuated to two shelters because debris blocked the entrance to a mobile home park, said Palm Beach County Commissioner Joel Flores.
The National Transportation Safety Board has opened an investigation. The crash is the deadliest involving a Learjet 60 and the second-deadliest U.S. plane crash this year.
