Nine Perish When Austin Jet Crashes Near Greenacres Homes, 600 Evacuated

Nine people died on Sunday, November 1, when a Learjet 60 business jet plummeted from the sky and crashed into a residential area in Palm Beach County, Florida. The aircraft was heading from Austin, Texas, to the Bahamas when it lost altitude rapidly, striking the ground near Military Trail and exploding. U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said all nine people aboard were killed and called the crash a horrific tragedy in a post on X. The Federal Aviation Administration stated that the crash occurred at approximately 12:50 p.m. Eastern time.

The jet had departed Austin-Bergstrom International Airport earlier that day. It was scheduled to land at North Eleuthera Airport in the Bahamas. According to FAA data, nine individuals were aboard the flight. The agency noted that this number was preliminary at the time of the report. No cause for the crash has been determined yet. The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation and said Sunday it was launching a go-team. Investigators were expected to arrive Sunday and Monday morning.

The crash site is located in Greenacres, a city with a population of about 45,000, roughly seven miles southwest of West Palm Beach. The specific impact point was near Military Trail, between Cresthaven Boulevard and 10th Avenue North. This area is about four miles south of the West Palm Beach airport, which was renamed President Donald J. Trump International Airport earlier this year. CNN reported that President Donald Trump was in West Palm Beach earlier that day and left the airport on Air Force One a little more than an hour before the crash.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis visited the scene and told reporters the crash looked like a missile going down. He said the impact left a large crater on the side of the road. DeSantis stated that there were no reports of people on the ground being killed or injured at the time of his news conference. He praised local first responders for their quick reaction. The debris field stretched a significant distance from the impact point.

Witnesses captured video of the jet falling from the sky and striking near the roadway. Flames burned around chunks of pavement near the crater, which was only feet from homes. Thick black smoke covered the site. One resident, Anthony Blackmon, said he was about 500 feet from the crash and that debris hit his house. He stated that everything was on fire, including the road. Another resident, Roger Forcelle, said the aircraft shook his house as it passed overhead and crashed less than half a mile from his home. Andrew Mannino told CNN that he heard and felt a boom and that the power immediately went out. He smelled smoke and saw a large black cloud rise into the air.

About 600 people in a nearby mobile home community were required to leave their homes on Sunday night. The crash scene blocks the entrance to the park and is being treated as a crime scene while federal investigators work. Palm Beach County Commissioner Joel Flores said residents were being sent to two county shelters. He noted that the Red Cross was on standby and that Palm Tran buses were ready to transport residents once law enforcement approved the evacuation. No official has alleged that a crime took place.

The county closed Military Trail between 10th Avenue North and Purdy Lane/Alameda Drive until further notice. Only emergency vehicles are allowed on the road. Drivers were advised 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. The timeline for reopening also depends on the federal investigation.

Air traffic control recordings show the pilots reported turbulence, icing, and precipitation before the crash. The jet was flying east at about 35,000 feet when the pilots asked to climb 2,000 feet. The pilot told the Miami Air Route Traffic Control Center that the ice was light and clear and manageable. He also reported moderate turbulence and an outside air temperature of minus 47 degrees Celsius. The turbulence was bouncing the jet by as much as 700 feet.

The situation deteriorated quickly after the pilots reported precipitation. The pilot radioed that the jet was descending 10,000 feet per minute and issued a mayday call. He then reported an overspeed condition and a descent rate of 20,000 feet per minute. The pilot stated that the jet was 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 just before the crash. Flight tracking data from ADS-B Exchange showed a drop of 27,000 feet in about a minute before the signal cut off. 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 area. 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. The alert warned that ice can make managing the airplane's flightpath and airspeed more difficult and can prevent the airplane from maintaining level flight. 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, whatever happened, the pilots had lost control of the plane.

The jet was registered as N722BD. FAA registry data identifies it as a Learjet 60 owned by LR60271 LLC of Wilmington, Delaware. The aircraft is listed online as available for charter. Officials have not said who operated the Sunday flight. 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. The crash is the deadliest ever involving a Learjet 60, according to Flight Safety Foundation data.

In 2008, four people were killed when a Learjet 60 bound for Los Angeles crashed on takeoff in Columbia, South Carolina. NTSB records show this is the second deadliest crash in the United States this year. A skydiving plane crash in Butler, Missouri, in June killed 12 people. The Learjet brand was made famous with wealthy travelers in the 1960s by Bill Lear. Canadian manufacturer Bombardier most recently built the jets. Bombardier stopped making new Learjets in 2021 but still supports the planes in service.