Nine Killed as Private Jet Crashes in Florida Neighborhood

All nine people aboard a private jet were killed when the aircraft plunged into a residential neighborhood in Cresthaven, in Florida's Palm Beach County, on Sunday. The Learjet 60 business jet exploded on impact, narrowly missing houses. There were no immediate reports of deaths or injuries among people on the ground.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the crash happened at 12:50 p.m. local time and called it a "horrific tragedy." The identities of those aboard and the cause of the crash were not immediately known. The National Transportation Safety Board has opened an investigation into the incident.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the aircraft had taken off from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas and was traveling to North Eleuthera Airport in the Bahamas. It was flying east at an altitude of 35,000 feet, approximately 10,660 meters, when the pilots reported turbulence, icing and precipitation. They asked to climb another 2,000 feet, or about 610 meters.

Moments after that request, the aircraft entered a steep dive. Air traffic control recordings and flight tracking data indicated that its descent initially reached 10,000 feet per minute before increasing to 20,000 feet per minute. The rate eventually reached as much as 30,000 feet per minute, exceeding the aircraft's design limits.

An audio recording from a Miami air traffic control center, captured by the broadcast service LiveATC, documented the final moments from the cockpit. A person aboard issued a mayday call and reported that the jet was descending at 10,000 feet per minute. Seconds later, the person declared an emergency and reported that the descent rate had doubled.

The cockpit transmission then warned that the aircraft was going to hit the ground. The speaker subsequently reported a descent of 22,000 feet and a bank angle of 60 degrees. A scream could be heard before a final statement indicating that there was no time left.

Videos shared on social media and filmed by people in vehicles showed the plane descending rapidly with a loud whooshing sound before striking beside a road and erupting in a fireball. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis likened the descent to "a missile going down." Black and gray smoke rose near the houses, while flames burned around a crater left on the road.

Authorities also moved residents away from the crash area. At a press briefing, Palm Beach County Commissioner Joel Flores said approximately 600 people were being evacuated and relocated to two shelters.