27,000-Feet Plunge: Learjet Kills Nine in Palm Beach County Crash

Nine people died when a Learjet 60 business jet crashed into a residential area in Palm Beach County, Florida, on Sunday, November 1, 2026. The aircraft plummeted from an altitude of 35,250 feet to 8,750 feet in roughly one minute before striking the ground near a busy road. U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed the fatalities and described the incident as a horrific tragedy. The Federal Aviation Administration stated that the jet was flying from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas to North Eleuthera Airport in the Bahamas at the time of the accident.

The crash occurred near Military Trail, between Cresthaven Boulevard and 10th Avenue North in Greenacres, a city of approximately 45,000 residents located southwest of West Palm Beach. The site is about four miles south of the West Palm Beach airport, which was renamed President Donald J. Trump International Airport earlier this year. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis visited the scene and told reporters the crash looked like a missile going down, noting that it left a large crater on the side of the road. He said there were no immediate reports of casualties on the ground, though the debris field stretched a significant distance.

Air traffic control recordings and flight data provide a detailed account of the final minutes of the flight. The jet was flying east at about 35,000 feet when the pilots reported turbulence, icing, and precipitation. They requested to climb 2,000 feet and indicated that the light clear ice was manageable. The pilot also reported an outside air temperature of minus 47 degrees Celsius. Turbulence was bouncing the aircraft by as much as 700 feet, according to data captured by LiveATC.net.

The situation deteriorated rapidly after the pilots reported precipitation. The pilot radioed, "We're descending 8,000, mayday, mayday, we're descending 10,000 feet per minute." The descent rate increased to 20,000 feet per minute, and the pilot announced an overspeed condition. The pilot then said, "We're going to crash into the ground." CBS News reported the pilot also said, "We're out of time." Flight tracking site ADS-B Exchange showed a drop of 27,000 feet in about a minute before the data cut off, CNN reported.

The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation and said Sunday it was launching a go-team. Investigators were expected to arrive on Sunday and Monday morning, with a media briefing planned for Monday in West Palm Beach. No cause for the crash has been determined yet. Mary Schiavo, a CNN aviation analyst and former inspector general of the U.S. Transportation Department, said it was clear that whatever happened, they had lost control of the plane. She noted that the descent was not controlled and that the steep dive could have torn parts off the plane.

Residents in the immediate vicinity described the moment of impact as violent. Anthony Blackmon, who was about 500 feet from the crash, said debris hit his house and everything was on fire. He said he had always seen such things on the news but never thought it would happen so close to somebody like him. Roger Forcelle said the aircraft shook his entire house as it passed overhead and crashed probably less than half a mile from his home. Andrew Mannino told CNN that he heard and felt the boom, and the power immediately went out. He smelled smoke and saw a large black cloud rise into the air.

Video recorded by people in nearby cars captured the jet plunging from the sky and exploding near the roadway. Flames flickered around chunks of pavement lining the crater, which was feet from homes and inches from passing vehicles. Thick black smoke covered the site, and the road buckled where the jet struck. A woman working nearby reported that the electricity had been out for about two hours after the crash. Another witness said the scene looked like a meteor had hit the ground.

About 600 residents in a nearby mobile home community were forced to leave their homes on Sunday night because the crash scene blocks the entrance to the park. The area is being treated as a crime scene while federal investigators work the site, though no official has alleged a crime took place. Palm Beach County Commissioner Joel Flores, who was the first county official on scene, 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 cleared the evacuation.

Palm Beach County closed Military Trail between 10th Avenue North and Purdy Lane/Alameda Drive until further notice, allowing only emergency vehicles to pass. The county directed 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 could remain closed for an extended time due to the crater and the ongoing federal investigation. Scattered storms were in the area, and the jet passed through a stronger storm cell a few minutes before the descent began.

The FAA had issued a convective SIGMET, a warning of thunderstorms that threaten aircraft, for the region. Heavy rain fell across the area 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. In January 2024, the NTSB issued a safety alert on in-flight icing, warning that ice can make managing the airplane's flightpath and airspeed more difficult and can prevent the airplane from maintaining level flight.

The aircraft is identified by the registration N722BD. FAA registry data lists it as a Learjet 60 owned by LR60271 LLC of Wilmington, Delaware. The jet is listed online as available for charter, and officials have not yet said who operated the specific flight on Sunday. FAA rules require multi-engine jets to carry a cockpit voice recorder only when they are flown for hire. It is not known whether this jet carried one. Jim Reynolds, a spokesperson for Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, said the jet was a private aircraft and could not confirm the identities of those aboard.

Officials have not released the names of the nine people killed or specified how many were passengers and how many were crew. The crash is the deadliest ever involving a Learjet 60, according to Flight Safety Foundation data. In 2008, four people died when a Learjet 60 crashed on takeoff in Columbia, South Carolina. NTSB records show this is the second deadliest crash in the United States this year, following a skydiving plane crash in Butler, Missouri, in June that killed 12. The Learjet brand, originally made famous by Bill Lear in the 1960s, was most recently built by Bombardier, which stopped producing new Learjets in 2021.

Duffy said the FAA is sending a team to the scene to support the NTSB's investigation and asked people to pray for the families and loved ones of those lost. CNN reported that President Trump was in West Palm Beach earlier Sunday and left the airport on Air Force One a little more than an hour before the crash. The NTSB planned a media briefing in West Palm Beach on Monday.