Learjet in fatal dive near Palm Beach kills all nine aboard

A Learjet 60 business jet crashed into a residential neighborhood in Palm Beach County, Florida, on Sunday, November 1, 2026, killing all nine people aboard. The aircraft, which had departed Austin-Bergstrom International Airport and was bound for North Eleuthera Airport in the Bahamas, struck the ground near Military Trail and exploded. U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed the fatalities and described the incident as a horrific tragedy in a social media post. The Federal Aviation Administration stated that the crash occurred at approximately 12:50 p.m. Eastern time.

The jet was flying east at about 35,000 feet when the pilots reported turbulence, icing and precipitation. Air traffic control recordings indicate that the pilots reported turbulence, icing, and precipitation shortly before the accident. The pilot requested a climb of 2,000 feet and noted outside air temperatures of minus 47 degrees Celsius. The aircraft was operating in an area where the FAA had issued a convective SIGMET, a warning of thunderstorms that pose a threat to aircraft. Scattered storms were present in the region, and the jet passed through a stronger storm cell minutes before its rapid descent began.

The situation deteriorated rapidly after the initial weather reports. The pilot radioed that the aircraft was descending at 10,000 feet per minute and declared a mayday. The pilot also reported an overspeed condition with a descent rate of 20,000 feet per minute. The pilot then said the aircraft was going to crash into the ground. CBS News reported the pilot also said, "We're out of time." The descent rate reached as high as 30,000 feet per minute, pushing the jet beyond its design limits, the AP reported. Flight tracking site ADS-B Exchange showed a drop of 27,000 feet in about a minute before the data cut off, CNN reported. The FAA said the jet fell from 35,250 feet to 8,750 feet in one minute just before the crash.

The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation into the crash. The agency launched a go-team that was expected to arrive at the scene on Sunday and Monday morning. A media briefing was scheduled for Monday in West Palm Beach. No cause for the crash has been determined yet. Sean Duffy said the FAA is sending a team to support the NTSB investigation. The jet, identified by registration N722BD, was owned by LR60271 LLC of Wilmington, Delaware, and listed online as available for charter. 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, described the jet as a private aircraft and acknowledged the tragedy without revealing further details.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis visited the crash site and described the scene to reporters. He stated that the crash looked like a missile going down and left a large crater on the side of the road. DeSantis said there were no reports of people on the ground being killed or injured at the time of his news conference. He praised the quick response of Palm Beach County first responders and noted that the debris field stretched a long distance. The crash site is in Greenacres, a city of about 45,000 people located roughly seven miles southwest of West Palm Beach. The site is approximately four miles south of President Donald J. Trump International Airport, which was renamed 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.

Witnesses in nearby cars captured video of the jet plunging from the sky and striking near the roadway. The impact created a crater feet from homes and inches from passing vehicles. Flames flickered around chunks of pavement, and thick black smoke covered the site. WPBF video showed the road buckled where the jet hit. Anthony Blackmon, a nearby resident who was about 500 feet from the crash, told NBC 6 that debris hit his house and everything was on fire. He said he had always seen such events on the news but never expected it to happen so close to him. Roger Forcelle said he felt the aircraft pass over his home, shaking the entire structure. He said the crash was probably less than half a mile from where he lives. Andrew Mannino told CNN that he heard and felt the boom and that the power immediately went out. He smelled smoke and saw a large black cloud rise. Another witness described the aftermath as looking like a meteor hit the ground.

About 600 people in a nearby mobile home community were required to leave their homes on Sunday night. County officials stated that 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 emphasized the need to ensure that about 600 people had shelter for the night. 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 was open only to emergency vehicles. The county 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. The timeline for reopening depends on the federal investigation. 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 would be important to investigators. She noted that the descent was not controlled, indicating that the pilots had lost control of the plane. The steep dive could have torn parts off the aircraft, and 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. The NTSB issued a safety alert in January 2024 regarding 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 that 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 people. Learjet, a brand made famous by Bill Lear's Lear 23 in the 1960s, was most recently built by Canadian manufacturer Bombardier. Bombardier stopped making new Learjets in 2021 but continues to support the planes still in service.