Palm Beach County Learjet Falls 27,000 Feet to Kill All Nine Aboard

A private Learjet 60 descended about 27,000 feet in roughly one minute on Sunday, November 1, 2026, before striking a neighborhood in Palm Beach County, Florida, and killing all nine people on board. U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy described the event as a horrific tragedy in a post on X, noting that the Federal Aviation Administration was dispatching a team to assist the National Transportation Safety Board. The FAA confirmed the crash occurred at approximately 12:50 p.m. Eastern time. The aircraft had departed Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas and was en route to North Eleuthera Airport in the Bahamas.

The jet came down near Military Trail between Cresthaven Boulevard and 10th Avenue North in Greenacres, a community of about 45,000 residents located roughly seven miles southwest of West Palm Beach. The crash site was approximately four miles south of the local airport, which was renamed President Donald J. Trump International Airport earlier this year. Governor Ron DeSantis visited the scene and told reporters the jet looked like a missile going down. He noted that the event left a large crater beside the road and described it as a major tragedy. DeSantis stated that no fatalities or injuries were reported on the ground at the time of his briefing and praised local first responders for their swift action.

Air traffic control recordings captured the pilot reporting light, clear ice and moderate turbulence minutes before the fall. The pilot also cited an outside air temperature of minus 47 degrees Celsius and turbulence that was bouncing the jet by as much as 700 feet. After the pilots reported precipitation and asked to climb 2,000 feet, the pilot radioed, "We're descending 8,000, mayday, mayday, we're descending 10,000 feet per minute." The descent rate accelerated to 10,000 feet per minute, then 20,000, and finally reached 30,000 feet per minute, a rate that pushed the jet beyond its design limits. The pilot declared they were in an overspeed condition and stated they were going to crash into the ground. The FAA said the jet fell from 35,250 feet to 8,750 feet in one minute just before the crash.

Video recorded by people in nearby cars captured the jet plunging from the sky, striking near the roadway, and exploding. Flames flickered around chunks of pavement lining the crater, which was located just feet from homes and inches from passing vehicles. Thick black smoke rose from the site, and the road surface was visibly buckled where the aircraft impacted. Nearby resident Anthony Blackmon, who was about 500 feet from the crash, said debris hit his house and that everything was on fire. Roger Forcelle reported that the aircraft passed over his home, shaking the entire structure before crashing probably less than half a mile from where he lives. Andrew Mannino described hearing and feeling a boom, the power immediately going out, and seeing a large black cloud rise into the air. Another witness compared the aftermath to a meteor impact.

About 600 people in a nearby mobile home community had to leave their homes Sunday night. County officials explained that the crash scene blocked the entrance to the park and was being treated as a crime scene while federal investigators worked. No official alleged that a crime had occurred. Palm Beach County Commissioner Joel Flores, who was the first county official at the scene, said residents were being directed to two county shelters. He said the Red Cross was standing by, and county officials said Palm Tran buses were ready to carry residents once law enforcement allowed the evacuation. Flores said about 600 people had to be sheltered that night.

Palm Beach County closed Military Trail between 10th Avenue North and Purdy Lane/Alameda Drive until further notice, allowing only 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 stay closed for an extended time because of the crater, and officials said the timeline also depends on the federal investigation. The National Transportation Safety Board said it was launching a go-team, with investigators expected to arrive on Sunday and Monday morning. A media briefing was scheduled for Monday in West Palm Beach. No cause for the crash had been determined as of Sunday.

Scattered storms were present in the area when the jet flew, and the aircraft passed through a stronger storm cell minutes before its descent. The FAA had issued a convective SIGMET warning of thunderstorms that threaten aircraft in that region. Heavy rain fell across the area on Sunday, and the National Weather Service maintained a flood watch through Monday afternoon. Whether the weather contributed to the crash has not been determined. In January 2024, the NTSB issued a safety alert regarding in-flight icing, warning that ice can make managing flightpath and airspeed more difficult and can prevent 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 noted that the descent was not controlled and that the steep dive could have torn parts off the plane, potentially destroying the flight recorder. It is not known if the jet carried a cockpit voice recorder, as FAA rules require them only for multi-engine jets flown for hire, though the aircraft was listed as available for charter.

The jet, registered as N722BD, is listed in FAA records as a Learjet 60 owned by LR60271 LLC of Wilmington, Delaware. Jim Reynolds, a spokesperson for Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, told the Associated Press the jet was a private aircraft and could not say who was on the flight. The crash is the deadliest ever involving a Learjet 60, according to Flight Safety Foundation data. In 2008, four people died when a Learjet 60 crashed on takeoff in Columbia, South Carolina. NTSB records indicate 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. Learjet, a brand made famous by Bill Lear, was last built by Canadian manufacturer Bombardier, which stopped producing new models in 2021 but continues to support the aircraft in service.