NINE DEAD AS LEARJET NOSE-DIVES INTO PALM BEACH STREET MILES FROM MAR-A-LAGO
A Learjet 60 carrying nine people plunged nose-first from the sky Sunday afternoon and slammed into a residential stretch of Palm Beach County, erupting in a fireball that carved a crater into the roadway just miles from Mar-a-Lago.
The twin-engine business jet, registration N722BD, had left Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas bound for North Eleuthera in the Bahamas. Around 12:50 p.m. it entered a steep, uncontrolled descent over the Greenacres area. Tracking data showed the aircraft dropping tens of thousands of feet in roughly a minute, with rates of descent reported near 20,000 feet per minute. Dashcam footage captured the jet arrowing toward the ground before it struck near Military Trail between Cresthaven Boulevard and 10th Avenue North.
The impact blew a hole in the pavement, scattered debris, knocked out power lines, and sent thick black smoke into the air. Witnesses described a sharp whistle followed by a boom that shook the neighborhood. The wreckage came down near a mobile-home community and a strip of businesses; the plane appeared to miss most structures by feet, though the force of the crash buckled the road and left fires burning in the crater.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed the death toll hours later. “Today’s plane crash in Palm Beach County, Florida is a horrific tragedy,” he wrote. “All 9 people on board were killed.” He said the FAA is supporting the NTSB investigation and asked the public to pray for the families of those lost.
Air-traffic control audio captured the final moments. The crew declared an emergency, reporting a rapid descent and loss of control. One transmission included the words “We’re going to crash into the ground,” followed later by “We’re going to die. Holy f*ck, we’re out of time,” before the signal cut out.
No identities have been released. The aircraft is registered to a Delaware LLC and had been listed for charter. Local authorities closed Military Trail in both directions while fire and rescue crews worked the scene. As of late Sunday, officials had not confirmed any deaths or serious injuries on the ground.
The crash site sits roughly five to eight miles from Mar-a-Lago and a short distance from the airport recently renamed for President Trump. Flight restrictions were in effect in the area because of the president’s presence earlier in the weekend; he had departed Palm Beach earlier in the day. Online speculation quickly turned to those air defenses, but authorities have described the event as a sudden loss of control with no indication of external interference. The NTSB will lead the investigation into what caused the jet to drop so abruptly.
Nine people are dead. A busy Florida street is scarred. Federal investigators are now sorting through the wreckage of a business jet that simply fell out of the sky.
Sources: Associated Press, Fox News, CNN, Palm Beach Post, statements from Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, FAA, Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office and Fire Rescue.