Nine Killed When Learjet Falls 27,000 Feet Into Palm Beach County

Palm Beach County, Florida, experienced a sudden aerial disaster on Sunday, November 1, 2026, when a private business jet plummeted from the sky and struck a residential area.

All nine people aboard the Learjet 60 were killed in the crash, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed. The Federal Aviation Administration placed the time of impact at approximately 12:50 p.m. Eastern time. The aircraft had departed Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas and was en route to North Eleuthera Airport in the Bahamas.

The jet struck the ground near Military Trail, between Cresthaven Boulevard and 10th Avenue North. Officials identified the specific location as Greenacres, a city of roughly 45,000 residents located roughly 7 miles southwest of West Palm Beach. The impact site is about four miles south of the airport in West Palm Beach, which was renamed President Donald J. Trump International Airport earlier this year. 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.

Air traffic control recordings captured the rapid deterioration of the flight. The pilot reported light, clear ice that was manageable, moderate turbulence, and an outside air temperature of minus 47 degrees Celsius. They requested a climb of 2,000 feet while flying east at 35,000 feet. Minutes later, the radio calls shifted to urgent distress signals. The pilot stated they were descending at 10,000 feet per minute and declared a mayday. The descent rate accelerated to 20,000 feet per minute as the jet entered an overspeed condition. The pilot then radioed that they were going to crash into the ground.

Flight tracking data from ADS-B Exchange showed the aircraft dropped 27,000 feet in about one minute before the signal was lost. The FAA reported a fall from 35,250 feet to 8,750 feet in that same single minute. The jet banked sharply to the right before hitting the ground at a steep angle. The descent rate reached as high as 30,000 feet per minute, pushing the jet beyond its design limits, the AP reported.

Witnesses in nearby vehicles recorded the jet striking the roadway and the subsequent explosion. Thick black smoke rose from the site, and flames surrounded chunks of pavement near the crater. The impact buckled the road surface. The crater formed feet from homes and inches from passing vehicles. Debris scattered across a wide area.

Anthony Blackmon, a resident located about 500 feet from the crash, said debris hit his house and the road caught fire. He noted that while he had seen such events on television, he did not expect one to happen so close to his home. Roger Forcelle said he felt the aircraft pass directly over his house, which shook the entire structure. He estimated the crash occurred less than half a mile from where he lives. Andrew Mannino said that he heard and felt a loud boom, followed by an immediate power outage. He smelled smoke and observed a large black cloud rising into the air.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis visited the scene and described the event as a cataclysmic plane crash. He said it looked like a missile going down and left a large crater on the side of the road. DeSantis stated there were no reports of people on the ground being killed or injured at the time of his news conference. He praised the Palm Beach County first responders for their quick response and noted that the debris field stretched a long distance.

About 600 people in a nearby mobile home community were forced to leave their homes on Sunday night. The crash scene blocked the entrance to the park and is being treated as a crime scene while federal investigators work the site. No official has alleged that a crime took place. Palm Beach County Commissioner Joel Flores, who represents District 3 and was the first county official on site, said residents were being sent to two county shelters. He stated that the Red Cross was standing by and Palm Tran buses were ready to transport residents once law enforcement allowed 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 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 period due to the crater and the ongoing federal investigation.

The NTSB 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 scheduled for Monday in West Palm Beach. No cause for the crash has been determined. Officials have not released the names of the nine victims or specified how many were passengers versus crew. Jim Reynolds, a spokesperson for Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, said the jet was a private aircraft and could not identify the individuals on board.

Scattered storms were present in the area when the jet crashed. The aircraft 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 maintained a flood watch through Monday afternoon. Whether the weather played a role in the crash has not been determined. In January 2024, the NTSB issued a safety alert on in-flight icing, noting 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 the dashcam video would be important to investigators. She stated that the descent was not controlled and that the pilots had lost control of the plane at that point. She noted that the steep dive could have torn parts off the plane and that a flight recorder might have been destroyed in the explosion. It is unknown if the jet carried a cockpit voice recorder. FAA rules require multi-engine jets to carry one only when flown for hire, and records show this jet was available for charter.

The aircraft was identified by registration N722BD. The FAA registry lists it as a Learjet 60 owned by LR60271 LLC of Wilmington, Delaware. CNN reported the jet is listed online as available for charter. Officials have not stated who operated the flight. According to Flight Safety Foundation data, this is the deadliest crash ever involving a Learjet 60. 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. Bombardier, the Canadian manufacturer that most recently built Learjets, stopped making new Learjets in 2021 but still supports the planes in service.