Palm Beach Learjet 60 Crash Kills All 9 Aboard Bahamas-Bound Jet in Massive Fireball

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A business jet carrying nine people plunged into a South Florida neighborhood Sunday, erupting in a massive fireball that appeared to narrowly miss nearby homes and vehicles along a busy roadway. Everyone aboard died, the nation’s transportation secretary said.

Videos recorded by motorists showed the Bahamas-bound aircraft dropping from the sky before crashing near the roadway and exploding. Flames burned around pieces of pavement scattered along the edge of a crater as stunned onlookers gathered, marveling that the jet had landed only feet from homes and inches from passing cars. A cloud of thick black smoke rose over the crash site.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on X that the Learjet 60 crashed in Palm Beach County at 12:50 p.m., calling it a “horrific tragedy.” The Federal Aviation Administration is dispatching a team to assist the National Transportation Safety Board with its investigation, he said.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said authorities had no immediate reports of injuries or deaths among people on the ground.

“It was a cataclysmic plane crash,” DeSantis told reporters at the scene. “It looked like a missile going down and left a big crater on the side of the road.”

Heavy rain swept across the region Sunday. The National Weather Service had a flood watch in effect through Monday afternoon because of the threat of excessive rainfall.

The Federal Aviation Administration said the aircraft had taken off from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas and was bound for the Bahamas. Authorities did not immediately identify the passengers or determine what caused the Learjet to crash.

The jet was flying east at 35,000 feet — roughly 11 kilometers — when the pilots reported turbulence, icing and precipitation. They then asked to climb another 2,000 feet, or about 610 meters.

Soon afterward, the aircraft entered a steep descent. Its rate of descent increased from 10,000 feet per minute to 20,000 and then as much as 30,000 feet per minute, pushing the aircraft beyond its design limits, according to air traffic control recordings and flight-tracking data.

One of the pilots declared an emergency and transmitted distress calls. The aircraft then rolled sharply to the right before striking the ground.

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In the minutes leading up to the crash, the pilot reported ice building up on the jet and turbulence that was jolting the aircraft by as much as 700 feet, or 213 meters, according to air traffic control recordings obtained by LiveATC.net.

“We have light, clear ice that is manageable and moderate turbulence,” the pilot told controllers.

Conditions worsened rapidly. After the aircraft encountered precipitation and the pilots requested a higher altitude, the pilot declared an emergency as the jet began losing altitude at a dangerous rate.

“We’re descending 8,000 — mayday, mayday — we’re descending 10,000 feet per minute,” the pilot radioed.

“We are in an overspeed condition descending 20,000 feet per minute,” the pilot said before acknowledging the imminent disaster: “We’re going to crash into the ground.”

Jim Reynolds, a spokesperson for Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, said the jet was a private aircraft. He said he did not immediately have information about who was aboard.

Palm Beach County sheriff’s officials identified the crash location as Greenacres, Florida. The city, which has about 45,000 residents, lies roughly 7 miles — 11 kilometers — southwest of West Palm Beach.

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AP Transportation Writer Josh Funk contributed from Gretna, Nebraska.