All nine people aboard a private business jet were killed on Sunday when the plane dropped out of the sky and exploded beside a busy road in a residential part of Palm Beach County, Florida, US officials said.
The Learjet 60 had taken off from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas and was heading to the Bahamas when it went down at about 12:50 p.m. local time on November 1, according to US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. The jet came down near Military Trail and 10th Avenue North, in the Greenacres area about seven miles southwest of West Palm Beach.
A dive from cruising height
Flight-tracking data and air traffic control recordings reported by US media suggest the jet was cruising east at about 35,000 feet when the crew reported turbulence, icing and heavy precipitation and asked to climb a further 2,000 feet.
Moments later the aircraft went into a steep, rapid descent, reportedly falling at a rate far beyond what the Learjet is designed to handle. The pilot declared an emergency and warned controllers that the plane was going down.
Videos filmed by drivers on the road show the jet falling nose-first before a huge fireball erupts on impact.
“Catastrophic,” says DeSantis
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, speaking to reporters at the scene, described the crash as catastrophic. He said the plane had come straight down and left a large crater next to the road, but that early information showed no one on the ground had been killed or injured.
The wreckage landed only feet from homes and vehicles. Authorities evacuated about 600 residents from a nearby mobile home community as a precaution, and roads around the site were closed in both directions. Local power was reportedly cut for around two hours, and heavy rain continued to fall across the area under a flood watch.
Victims not yet named
Officials have not released the names of those on board. A spokesperson for Austin-Bergstrom airport, Jim Reynolds, confirmed it was a private flight but said the airport had no details about the passengers.
Duffy called the crash a tragedy and said a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) team was heading to the site to support the investigation.
What happens next
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is leading the investigation. Investigators will examine the wreckage, the aircraft’s maintenance records, the weather along its route, and any flight data and cockpit voice recordings that can be recovered.
The NTSB usually releases a preliminary report within a few weeks of a crash, but a final finding on the cause can take a year or more.
Aviation experts say icing at high altitude can affect a jet’s instruments and handling, but they caution that it is too early to say what caused Sunday’s crash.
About the Learjet 60
The Learjet 60 is a mid-size business jet built by Bombardier and widely used for private and charter flights. It typically carries two pilots and up to about eight passengers, and is popular for trips such as the short hop from Florida and Texas to the Caribbean.
Flashinfong will update this story as investigators and families release more information.
Sources: US Department of Transportation, PBS NewsHour/AP, Al Jazeera, ABC11.
