26,500 Foot Plunge: Nine Killed in Learjet Crash in Palm Beach County

The pilot of a private Learjet 60 radioed that the aircraft was descending at 20,000 feet per minute and declared, "We're going to crash into the ground," moments before the plane struck a road in Palm Beach County, Florida, killing all nine people on board.

The crash occurred at approximately 12:50 p.m. Eastern time on Sunday, November 1, 2026. The jet had departed Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas and was bound for North Eleuthera Airport in the Bahamas. U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy described the event as a "horrific tragedy" in a post on X, stating that the Federal Aviation Administration is sending a team to support the National Transportation Safety Board's investigation.

The aircraft was flying east at an altitude of about 35,000 feet when the pilots reported turbulence, icing, and precipitation to air traffic control. They requested a climb of 2,000 feet. Minutes before the crash, the pilot told the Miami Air Route Traffic Control Center, "We have light, clear ice that is manageable and moderate turbulence." The pilot also reported an outside air temperature of minus 47 degrees Celsius. Flight tracking data from ADS-B Exchange recorded a drop of 27,000 feet in roughly one minute before the signal cut off.

The descent rate accelerated from 10,000 feet per minute to 20,000 and then as high as 30,000 feet per minute. The FAA stated that the jet fell from 35,250 feet to 8,750 feet in one minute just before the crash. The aircraft banked sharply to the right before hitting the ground at a steep angle. The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation and said Sunday it was launching a go-team. Investigators were expected to arrive Sunday and Monday morning. A media briefing is scheduled for Monday in West Palm Beach.

The crash site is located near Military Trail between Cresthaven Boulevard and 10th Avenue North in Greenacres, a city of about 45,000 residents. The site is approximately four miles south of the West Palm Beach airport, which was renamed President Donald J. Trump International Airport earlier this year. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis visited the scene and told reporters, "Obviously, this was a cataclysmic plane crash. It looked like a missile going down. It left a big crater on the side of the road." DeSantis said there were no reports at the time of the news conference of anyone on the ground being killed or injured.

Witnesses captured the event on video. Anthony Blackmon, a resident about 500 feet from the crash, stated, "Debris was everywhere. Debris hit my house. Everything was on fire. The road was on fire." Roger Forcelle said he felt the aircraft pass over his home. "It shook the whole house. It went right over us and crashed probably less than half a mile from where I live," Forcelle said. Andrew Mannino reported hearing and feeling a boom, with the power immediately going out. He smelled smoke and saw a large black cloud rise into the air.

The crash blocked the entrance to a nearby mobile home community, forcing about 600 residents to leave their homes on Sunday night. County officials said the scene is being treated as a crime scene while federal investigators work, but 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. "So we have about 600 people that we have to make sure that they have shelter tonight," Flores said. The Red Cross stood by, and Palm Tran buses were prepared to transport residents once law enforcement cleared the evacuation.

Palm Beach County closed Military Trail between 10th Avenue North and Purdy Lane/Alameda Drive until further notice, allowing only emergency vehicles. Drivers were directed 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 time due to the crater, with the timeline dependent on the federal investigation.

CNN reported scattered storms were in the area and that the jet passed through a stronger storm cell a few minutes before it began to descend. The FAA had issued a convective SIGMET, a warning of thunderstorms that threaten aircraft, for the region. Heavy rain fell across the area on Sunday, and the National Weather Service maintained a flood watch through Monday afternoon. The NTSB issued a safety alert in January 2024 regarding in-flight icing, noting that ice can make managing the airplane's flightpath and airspeed more difficult.

Mary Schiavo, a CNN aviation analyst and former inspector general of the U.S. Transportation Department, stated that dashcam video would be important to investigators. "That is not a controlled descent," she said. "So at that point, it's clear whatever happened, they had lost control of the plane." Schiavo noted that the steep dive could have torn parts off the plane and that a flight recorder could have been destroyed in the explosion. It remains unknown whether the jet carried a cockpit voice recorder, as FAA rules require multi-engine jets to carry one only when flown for hire. Records show the jet was offered for charter flights.

Flight tracking and FAA registry data identify the aircraft by registration N722BD. The FAA registry lists it as a Learjet 60 owned by LR60271 LLC of Wilmington, Delaware. CNN reported the jet is listed online as available for charter. Officials have not identified who operated the flight on Sunday. 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. "This is definitely a tragedy," Reynolds said.

The crash is the deadliest involving a Learjet 60, according to Flight Safety Foundation data. In 2008, four people died when a Learjet 60 bound for Los Angeles crashed on takeoff in Columbia, South Carolina. NTSB records show 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, the brand made famous by Bill Lear's Lear 23 in the 1960s, was most recently built by Canadian manufacturer Bombardier, which stopped making new Learjets in 2021 but continues to support the planes in service.