All nine people on board died when a business jet nosedived into a South Florida neighborhood on November 1, 2026, erupting into a massive fireball near a busy Palm Beach County roadway after reporting turbulence and icing.
Learjet 60 Plunges into Greenacres Neighborhood
A Learjet 60 nose-dived into a South Florida neighborhood on Sunday afternoon, creating a deep crater and sending thick black smoke over a residential area in Greenacres. The aircraft had departed from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas and was heading toward the Bahamas before it went down around 12:50 p.m.
NTSB is launching a go-team to investigate Sunday’s crash of a Learjet 60 airplane in Lake Worth Beach, Florida. Investigators are arriving at the accident site today and tomorrow morning. Media briefing will be held in West Palm Beach on Monday. Time and location to be announced…
Dashcam footage captured by motorists showed the Bahamas-bound aircraft plunging vertically from the sky before striking the ground near a major roadway and exploding into a giant ball of flames. The impact zone sat roughly nine miles from President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, where Trump had been visiting earlier in the morning before departing on Air Force One about an hour prior to the accident.
Pilot Radio Reports Rapid Descent and Severe Icing
Minutes before the disaster, the flight crew contacted air traffic controllers to report worsening weather conditions as the twin-engine jet traveled east at 35,000 feet. Recordings captured by LiveATC.net documented the pilot battling an outside air temperature of -47 degrees Celsius, accumulating ice, and moderate turbulence that jolted the cabin by as much as 700 feet.
We have light, clear ice that is manageable and moderate turbulence.
The pilot, via Air traffic control recordings
The situation deteriorated rapidly after the crew requested permission to climb another 2,000 feet. Flight tracking data and radio transmissions show the aircraft entering an uncontrolled, steep dive that quickly reached 10,000 feet per minute, then 20,000 feet per minute, with Flightradar24 recording peaks surpassing 32,000 feet per minute.
We’re descending 8,000 — mayday, mayday — we’re descending 10,000 feet per minute.
The pilot, via Air traffic control recordings
Seconds later, the pilot issued a final warning over the radio frequency before the transmission cut out.
We are in an overspeed condition descending 20,000 feet per minute. We’re going to crash into the ground.
The pilot, via Air traffic control recordings
Palm Beach County Officials Order Mass Evacuations
All nine occupants aboard the aircraft died in the impact. US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed the fatalities in a statement posted to social media, describing the event as a horrific tragedy
and confirming that the Federal Aviation Administration was dispatching a team to assist investigators.
It was a cataclysmic plane crash.
Ron DeSantis, Florida Governor
DeSantis added that the aircraft left a large crater and noted there were no immediate reports of injuries or deaths among people on the ground. Palm Beach County authorities evacuated approximately 600 people from a nearby mobile home community while emergency personnel and federal officials responded to the mass casualty incident.
Today's plane crash in Palm Beach County, Florida is a horrific tragedyHere's what we know:- At 12:50 PM ET, a Learjet 60 crashed in a neighborhood near Cresthaven, FL- All 9 people on board were killed- The aircraft departed from Austin, Texas, and was headed to the Bahamas…
Military Trail Closures and Federal Investigation
Law enforcement shut down all northbound and southbound lanes of Military Trail between Cresthaven Boulevard and 10th Avenue North. Local officials warned motorists to avoid the area entirely, noting that the major roadway and surrounding streets would remain closed until further notice.
The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the ongoing investigation into the crash, supported by a team sent from the Federal Aviation Administration. While a flood watch due to excessive rainfall remained in effect through Monday afternoon after heavy storms pounded the region, authorities emphasized that the exact cause of the accident and the identities of those on board remain under active investigation.
