Learjet Crash in Palm Beach County: Nine Killed in Nosedive

A private business jet dropped from the sky and slammed into a neighborhood in Palm Beach County, Florida, killing all nine people on board on Sunday, November 1, 2026. The Learjet 60 was traveling from Austin, Texas, to the Bahamas when it lost altitude rapidly, falling from 35,250 feet to 8,750 feet in one minute, the FAA said, before exploding near residential homes in the city of Greenacres.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy described the event as a horrific tragedy in a post on the social media platform X. He noted that the Federal Aviation Administration is sending a team to support the National Transportation Safety Board, which is leading the investigation. Duffy asked the public to pray for the families of the nine individuals lost in the crash. No cause has been determined.

The FAA stated that the jet crashed at about 12:50 p.m. Eastern time. The aircraft had departed Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. Jim Reynolds, a spokesperson for the Austin airport, told the Associated Press that the jet was a private aircraft. He said he could not say who was on the flight.

The crash site is located near Military Trail, between Cresthaven Boulevard and 10th Avenue North. Sheriff’s officials placed the impact zone in Greenacres, a community of roughly 45,000 people situated about seven miles southwest of West Palm Beach. The location 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.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis visited the scene and spoke with reporters. He described the visual impact of the crash, stating that it looked like a missile going down. DeSantis said the aircraft left a large crater on the side of the road. He noted that there were no reports of ground casualties at the time of his news conference, though he praised the quick response of local first responders to the scene.

Witnesses captured video of the jet striking the ground. The footage showed the aircraft hitting the pavement near the roadway and exploding. Flames surrounded chunks of broken pavement, and thick black smoke rose from the site. The impact buckled the road surface, and the crater was located within feet of nearby homes and inches from the path of passing vehicles. A woman working nearby reported that electricity had been cut for about two hours following the impact.

Anthony Blackmon, a nearby resident who said he was about 500 feet from the crash, told NBC 6 that debris hit his house and everything was on fire. He said the road was also on fire and that he had never thought it would happen so close to somebody like how it happened. Another resident, Roger Forcelle, said he felt the aircraft pass over his house, shaking the structure. He estimated the crash occurred less than half a mile from where he lives. Andrew Mannino told CNN that he heard a boom, lost power, and saw a large black cloud rise into the air.

About 600 people in a nearby mobile home community had to leave their homes on Sunday night. County officials said the crash scene blocks the entrance to the mobile home park and is being treated as a crime scene while federal investigators work. 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 at the scene, 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 allowed the evacuation.

Palm Beach County closed Military Trail between 10th Avenue North and Purdy Lane/Alameda Drive until further notice. The road remains open only to 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 because of the crater, and officials said the timeline also depends on the federal investigation.

Air traffic control recordings and flight tracking data show that the jet was flying east at about 35,000 feet when the pilots reported turbulence, icing, and precipitation. The pilot asked to climb 2,000 feet, reporting light, clear ice that was manageable and moderate turbulence. The pilot also noted an outside air temperature of minus 47 degrees Celsius and turbulence that was bouncing the jet by up to 700 feet. These reports were captured by LiveATC.net and cited by the AP.

The situation changed quickly after the pilots requested a climb. The pilot radioed that the jet was descending 8,000 and called mayday, then said it was descending 10,000 feet per minute and later 20,000 feet per minute. The pilot stated that the aircraft was in an overspeed condition. The pilot then said, "We're going to crash into the ground." CBS News reported that the pilot also said, "We're out of time." The jet 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 site ADS-B Exchange showed a drop of 27,000 feet in about a minute before the data 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 region. It is not yet determined whether the weather played a part.

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 noted that the steep dive was not a controlled descent, indicating that the pilots had lost control of the plane. She said the steep dive could have torn parts off the plane and that a flight recorder may have been destroyed in the explosion. It is not known whether the jet carried a cockpit voice recorder, as FAA rules only require them for multi-engine jets when flown for hire. The jet, registered as N722BD, is owned by LR60271 LLC of Wilmington, Delaware, and is listed online as available for charter. This crash is the deadliest involving a Learjet 60, according to Flight Safety Foundation data. It is the second deadliest crash in the United States this year, following a skydiving plane crash in Missouri that killed 12 people.