A Florida family has recalled the terrifying moment their apartment began “shaking” after a business jet plunged to the ground “like a missile” on Sunday, killing all nine people aboard.
The mother and her son were preparing to leave their home in Greenacres at about 12.50pm when the $2 million Learjet 60, traveling from Texas, crashed near Military Trail and 10th Avenue North. The impact, the mother said, felt “like a super big explosion.”
‘It sounded, like, very massive, huge,’ she told Fox News, recounting how her son ran up to her, terrified, in the aftermath.
At first, the boy thought it sounded “like a ginormous lightning strike.”
His mother said the power soon went out, while the curtains covering their windows “started shaking a bit.”
The electricity returned roughly seven minutes after the crash.
When they looked outside, they saw “some smoke, black smoke,” the mother said. “And then we started hearing… the sirens sounding three minutes after.”
Other witnesses said they were “lifted from the ground” as the road buckled and a huge fireball erupted.
A $2 million Learjet 60 carrying nine people plunged to the ground on Sunday
Dashcam footage captured the moment the plane crashed near the road and erupted into a huge fireball on Sunday. The FAA confirmed that nine people were aboard
The crash created a massive crater in the middle of the road and damaged nearby infrastructure
The Learjet was carrying nine people when it fell from the sky in poor weather, crashing just eight miles from Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate near West Palm Beach. The jet burst into a massive fireball on impact.
Disturbing dashcam video showed the aircraft diving sharply toward the ground before triggering a powerful explosion.
“When you see that video, you know, it’s a jarring thing,” Governor Ron DeSantis said Sunday evening as he stood in pouring rain near the crash site. “It was like… a missile coming down and a massive explosion, debris going everywhere.”
The impact sent debris across a wide area and carved a huge crater into the road. Authorities said no one on the ground was injured or killed.
However, nearly 600 residents of a nearby mobile home community are being forced to leave because the entrance to their neighborhood is directly beside the wreckage.
“Unfortunately, that’s a crime scene. They’re investigating that, so the people can’t stay there,” former Greenacres Mayor and current Palm Beach County Commissioner Joel Flores said during a news conference.
Flores and other elected officials said the crash also damaged nearby infrastructure, potentially disrupting water and other services.
County officials are arranging two shelters for residents displaced by the crash, while the American Red Cross remains on standby.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said the falling plane looked “like a missile”
Officials do not expect the road where the plane crashed to reopen for another month
Police and emergency vehicles are seen closing off the street
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Meanwhile, it remains unlikely that the part of the road where the plane crashed will be open ‘in the next 30 days,’ Flores said.
Nearby businesses may also face prolonged closures as crews work to repair the roadway and federal investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board examine the wreckage.
The cause of the crash remains unclear.
But air traffic control audio revealed that the female pilot relayed pivotal information to an air traffic controller just seconds before it plunged thousands of feet in a minute.
The air traffic controllers in nearby Miami had given pilots permission to ‘deviate left and right’ due to ‘moderate precipitation… to the southeast’ that they described as ‘pretty nasty’ as the twin-engine business jet approached the area.
The controllers could then be heard describing ‘moderate turbulence’ before the pilot’s tone swiftly descends into panic as she realizes something is wrong with the jet.
Nearly 600 residents of a nearby mobile home community are now being forced to relocate following the crash
She is heard saying: ‘Seven two two bravo delta, we’re descending 8,000… mayday mayday… we’re descending 10,000 ft per minute.
Seconds later, she screams ‘declaring emergency, declaring emergency we are in an overspeed condition’ before her voice breaks as she shrieks ‘descending 20,000 ft per minute…we’re going to crash into the ground.’
‘I’m here with you, talk to me,’ the air traffic controller says in an attempt to calm the situation.
‘We are descending 22,000 ft, and we are banking 60 degrees.’ This means the wings were tilted at a 60-degree angle, meaning the jet was nearly completely sideways.
‘We’re out of time,’ she screamed.
The Daily Mail has chosen not to publish the final seconds of audio which are extremely distressing.
When he was later asked about the aircraft’s rapid descent, DeSantis suggested something may have gone wrong before the plane struck the ground.
‘To see the way it descended, yeah, I think you can make the inference that something happened in the air that was a big problem,’ he said.
Weather conditions in the West Palm Beach area on Sunday afternoon were poor, overcast with rain and lightning in the area and winds from the east at 15 mph, gusting to near 25 mph. The National Weather Service in Miami said visibility was 7 miles.
The flight had set off from Austin, Texas, bound for North Eleuthera in the Bahamas before its path abruptly ended just near West Palm Beach, according to flight data.
President Trump had been in Palm Beach at his Mar-a-Lago resort Saturday night, celebrating the holiday by hosting hundreds of friends at a jungle-themed Halloween party.
The president made an appearance, dressed as himself.
‘I’ve spent nine hours getting ready,’ he joked. ‘I had ten minutes, so I came as Donald Trump tonight! Hello everybody.’
But as the plane crashed down on Sunday, Trump made his way to Iowa for the final leg of his midterm campaign.