Residents described a scene of devastation after a private jet plunged nose-first into the ground and exploded near a Florida mobile home community, killing all nine people aboard and forcing hundreds of residents to evacuate.
Anthony Blackmon told NBC6 that he was about 500 feet from the Learjet 60 when it dropped nearly straight to the ground and erupted in flames in Greenacres at approximately 1:25 p.m. Sunday.
“Debris was everywhere. Debris hit my house. Everything was on fire. The road was on fire,” Blackmon said. He added that he had seen similar disasters on the news but never imagined one would happen so close to home.
Roger Forcelle, another nearby resident, said he felt the Bahamas-bound aircraft, reportedly valued at $2 million, fly over his house shortly before the crash.
“It shook the whole house. It went right over us and crashed probably less than half a mile from where I live,” Forcelle said.
“Everybody came out of their houses because you could feel it shaking.”
Forcelle said a huge column of smoke rose from the crash site. After leaving to run errands, he was unable to return home.
Another resident said the scene appeared as though “a meteor hit the ground” after the jet, which had departed from Austin, Texas, slammed into a roadway.
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Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed that all nine people aboard the aircraft died in the crash.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said there were, remarkably, no initial reports of deaths or injuries among people on the ground.
Dashcam footage captured the aircraft plunging rapidly toward the ground before exploding in a towering burst of fire and smoke.
Air traffic control audio also captured what appeared to be the doomed pilot’s final words: “holy f–k, we’re out of time.”
The impact scattered debris across a “significant distance” and prompted the evacuation of about 600 people, including residents of a nearby mobile home park, as federal investigators began examining the crash site.
“Right now our priority is evacuating the adjacent community right behind. We have about 600 people that we have to make sure have shelter tonight, food,” Joel Flores, the Palm Beach County commissioner for District 3, said during a press conference Sunday evening.
DeSantis called the crash “cataclysmic” and described it as a “tragic way to see people pass away.”
“Obviously, this was a cataclysmic plane crash. It looked like a missile going down. It left a big crater on the side of the road,” DeSantis told reporters.
The National Transportation Safety Board said it had initiated a “go-team,” with investigators expected to reach the scene Sunday night and Monday morning.