Nine Dead After Learjet Crashes Into Florida Neighborhood

A Learjet 60 business jet plummeted from 35,250 feet to 8,750 feet in one minute before striking a residential area in Palm Beach County, Florida, killing all nine people on board on Sunday, November 1, 2026. The aircraft crashed at approximately 12:50 p.m. Eastern time near Military Trail between Cresthaven Boulevard and 10th Avenue North in Greenacres. U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed the death toll in a social media post, describing the event as a horrific tragedy. The Federal Aviation Administration stated that preliminary information indicates nine individuals were aboard the plane when it went down.

The jet departed from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas with North Eleuthera Airport in the Bahamas as its destination. Jim Reynolds, a spokesperson for Austin-Bergstrom, identified the aircraft as a private plane but said he could not say who was on the flight. He said, "This is definitely a tragedy." Officials had not released the names of the victims or the split between passengers and crew. The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the federal 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.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis visited the crash site and addressed reporters regarding the extent of the damage. He characterized the event as a cataclysmic plane crash that looked like a missile going down. DeSantis noted that the impact left a large crater on the side of the road and that no reports had emerged of anyone on the ground being killed or injured at the time of his remarks. He praised Palm Beach County first responders for their rapid reaction and stated that the debris field stretched a long distance.

Witnesses in nearby vehicles recorded video of the jet descending rapidly from the sky before exploding near the roadway. Thick black smoke enveloped the site, and flames flickered around chunks of pavement lining the crater. The road surface buckled where the jet made contact with the ground. Anthony Blackmon, a nearby resident who was about 500 feet from the crash, said debris hit his house and that everything was on fire, including the road. He said he had always seen such events on the news but never expected one to happen so close.

Other neighbors described the physical force of the impact. Roger Forcelle stated that the aircraft passed directly over his home, shaking the entire structure before crashing less than half a mile from where he lives. He said everybody came out of their houses because they could feel it shaking. Andrew Mannino said that he heard and felt a loud boom, followed by an immediate loss of power. He smelled smoke and observed a large black cloud rising into the air. Another observer described the aftermath as looking like a meteor had struck the ground. A woman working nearby reported that the electricity in her area had remained out for about two hours.

About 600 people in a nearby mobile home community had to leave their homes Sunday night, county officials said. The evacuation was necessary because the crash scene blocks the entrance to the mobile home park and is being treated as a crime scene while federal investigators conduct their work. No official alleged that a crime had occurred. Palm Beach County Commissioner Joel Flores, who was the first county official on the scene, said residents were being moved to two county shelters. He confirmed that the Red Cross was on standby and that Palm Tran buses were prepared to transport residents once law enforcement permitted the evacuation.

Palm Beach County closed Military Trail between 10th Avenue North and Purdy Lane/Alameda Drive to all traffic except emergency vehicles. The county 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. Officials indicated that the timeline for reopening depends on the progress of the federal investigation.

Air traffic control recordings and flight tracking data provided details on the final moments of the flight. The jet was flying east at an altitude of 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.

The situation deteriorated rapidly after the initial weather reports. The pilot radioed that they were descending 8,000, then declared a mayday, stating they were descending 10,000 feet per minute. The pilot then reported an overspeed condition with a descent rate of 20,000 feet per minute. The pilot stated that the plane was going to crash into the ground and, CBS News reported, also said they were out of time. The descent rate eventually reached 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 stated that 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 was lost. Scattered storms were present in the area, and the jet passed through a stronger storm cell a few minutes before the descent began. 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.

Mary Schiavo, a CNN aviation analyst and former inspector general of the U.S. Transportation Department, said that dashcam video will be important to investigators. She noted that the descent was not controlled, indicating that the pilots had lost control of the plane. She stated that the steep dive could have torn parts off the aircraft 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, though records show this 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 specified who operated the flight on Sunday. 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.

This 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, after a skydiving plane crash in Butler, Missouri, in June that killed 12. Learjet, the brand made famous with wealthy travelers in the 1960s, was most recently built by Canadian manufacturer Bombardier. Bombardier stopped making new Learjets in 2021 but still supports the planes in service.