Learjet 60 Crashes in Palm Beach County, Killing All Nine Aboard

Palm Beach County, Florida, was struck by a sudden aviation disaster on Sunday, November 1, 2026, when a private business jet plummeted from the sky into a residential neighborhood. The aircraft, identified as a Learjet 60, crashed near a busy road and exploded, killing everyone on board. U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed the loss of all nine lives and described the incident as a horrific tragedy. The Federal Aviation Administration stated that the crash occurred at approximately 12:50 p.m. Eastern time.

The jet had departed from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas, heading to North Eleuthera Airport in the Bahamas. The FAA indicated that nine people were aboard the aircraft, though it did not specify how many were passengers and how many were crew members. Jim Reynolds, a spokesperson for the Austin airport, told the Associated Press that the jet was a private aircraft and that he could not say who was on the flight. He said, "This is definitely a tragedy."

The crash site is located near Military Trail, between Cresthaven Boulevard and 10th Avenue North, in the city of Greenacres. Greenacres has a population of roughly 45,000 and sits about seven miles southwest of West Palm Beach. The impact zone is approximately four miles south of the airport in West Palm Beach, which was renamed President Donald J. Trump International Airport earlier in the year. President Trump was in West Palm Beach earlier that Sunday and departed on Air Force One slightly more than an hour before the jet went down, according to CNN.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis visited the scene and addressed reporters. He described the event as a cataclysmic plane crash, noting that the jet looked like a missile falling from the sky. DeSantis stated that the impact left a large crater on the side of the road. DeSantis said there were no reports at the time of his news conference of anyone on the ground being killed or injured. The debris field stretched a considerable distance from the impact point.

Video footage captured by witnesses in nearby cars shows the jet plunging from the sky and striking near the roadway. The impact caused an explosion, sending thick black smoke rising into the air. Flames flickered around chunks of pavement that formed the crater, which was located just feet from homes and inches from passing vehicles. Footage from WPBF showed the road buckled where the aircraft hit the ground.

Residents in the immediate area described the force of the impact. Anthony Blackmon, a nearby resident who was about 500 feet from the crash, said debris hit his house and everything was on fire. He noted that while he had seen such events on the news, he never expected one to happen so close to his home. Roger Forcelle felt the aircraft pass directly over his house, causing the structure to shake. He said he lived less than half a mile from the crash site and that everybody came out of their houses because they could feel the shaking. Andrew Mannino told CNN that he heard and felt a boom and that the power went out immediately. He reported smelling smoke and seeing a large black cloud. Another witness described the aftermath as looking like a meteor had hit the ground. A woman working nearby said the electricity had been out for about two hours.

Approximately 600 people living in a nearby mobile home community were forced to leave their homes on Sunday night. The crash scene blocks the entrance to the mobile home park, and authorities are treating the area as a crime scene while federal investigators work the site. No official has alleged that a crime occurred. Palm Beach County Commissioner Joel Flores, who was the first county official on the scene, said residents were being directed to two county shelters. He stated that the county had to ensure shelter for about 600 people that night. The Red Cross was on standby, and Palm Tran buses were ready to transport residents once law enforcement approved the evacuation.

Palm Beach County closed Military Trail between 10th Avenue North and Purdy Lane/Alameda Drive until further notice. The road remained open only to emergency vehicles. County officials advised 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 period due to the crater. The timeline for reopening the road also depends on the progress of the federal investigation.

Air traffic control recordings and flight tracking data provide details on the final moments 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. Minutes before the crash, the pilot told the Miami Air Route Traffic Control Center that they had light, clear ice that was manageable and moderate turbulence. The pilot reported an outside air temperature of minus 47 degrees Celsius and turbulence that was bouncing the jet by as much as 700 feet. This information was captured by LiveATC.net.

The situation deteriorated rapidly after the pilots reported precipitation and asked to climb. The pilot radioed, "We're descending 8,000, mayday, mayday, we're descending 10,000 feet per minute." The pilot added that they were in an overspeed condition descending 20,000 feet per minute. The pilot then said they were going to crash into the ground. CBS News reported that the pilot also said they were out of time. The descent rate reached as high as 30,000 feet per minute, pushing the jet beyond its design limits. The plane banked sharply to the right before hitting the ground at a steep angle. The FAA said the jet fell from 35,250 feet to 8,750 feet in one minute. Flight tracking site ADS-B Exchange showed a drop of 27,000 feet in about a minute before the data cut off.

Weather conditions in the area included scattered storms, and the jet passed through a stronger storm cell a few minutes before the descent began. CNN reported that the flight was in an area where the FAA had issued a convective SIGMET, a warning of thunderstorms that threaten aircraft. Whether the weather played a part in the crash has not been determined. Heavy rain fell across the region on Sunday, and the National Weather Service had a flood watch in effect through Monday afternoon. 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.

Mary Schiavo, a CNN aviation analyst and former inspector general of the U.S. Transportation Department, said dashcam video will be important to investigators. She stated that the descent was not controlled and that the pilots had lost control of the plane. She noted that the steep dive could have torn parts off the plane and that a flight recorder could have been destroyed in the explosion. It is not known whether the jet carried a cockpit voice recorder. FAA rules require multi-engine jets to carry one only when they are flown for hire, and records show the jet was offered for charter flights.

Flight tracking and FAA registry data identify the jet by its registration, N722BD. The FAA registry lists it as a Learjet 60 owned by LR60271 LLC of Wilmington, Delaware. CNN reported that the jet is listed online as available for charter. Officials have not said who operated Sunday's flight. The crash is the deadliest ever involving a Learjet 60, according to Flight Safety Foundation data cited by CNN. In 2008, four people were killed when a Learjet 60 bound for Los Angeles crashed on takeoff in Columbia, South Carolina. NTSB records show it is the second deadliest crash in the United States this year, after a skydiving plane crash in Butler, Missouri, in June that killed 12. Learjet, the brand made famous by Bill Lear's Lear 23 in the 1960s, was most recently built by Canadian manufacturer Bombardier, which stopped making new Learjets in 2021 but still supports the planes in service.

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. The NTSB planned a media briefing in West Palm Beach on Monday. No cause for the crash has been determined.