A private Learjet 60 bound for the Bahamas crashed into a residential and commercial corridor in unincorporated Palm Beach County on Sunday afternoon, killing all nine people aboard in one of the deadliest general-aviation accidents in Florida in years.
The jet went down around 1 p.m. ET on Military Trail near Cresthaven Boulevard and 10th Avenue North, roughly nine miles from Mar-a-Lago, about an hour after President Trump had departed the property aboard Air Force One. No one on the ground was hurt, though roughly 600 residents of a nearby mobile-home community were evacuated as crews worked the scene, and the road is expected to stay closed for about 30 days while damaged water lines are repaired.
Air traffic control audio, captured by the tracking site LiveATC.net, showed the flight unraveling in under a minute. The pilot, who had departed Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas, reported "moderate turbulence" and said he was "managing the ice" before encountering heavy precipitation. He told controllers he needed to climb, then reported an emergency "overspeed condition descending 20,000 feet per minute." His final transmission came roughly 35 seconds later: "We're gonna crash... we're out of time."
A mass-casualty response
Palm Beach County Fire Rescue declared a mass-casualty incident, and the National Transportation Safety Board has launched a full investigation with assistance from the Federal Aviation Administration. Jim Reynolds, a spokesperson for Austin-Bergstrom airport, confirmed the aircraft was a private flight and called the crash "definitely a tragedy." Thunderstorms were active over the area at the time.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who viewed the wreckage, described the scene in blunt terms: "It was like a missile coming down and a massive explosion, debris going everywhere. And to have those people on board, it's really a tragic way to see people pass away." Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy called it a "horrific tragedy" in a social media post, writing: "Please join me in praying for the families and loved ones of those we lost."
Investigators have not yet released the identities of those aboard or determined a cause, though the pilot's references to icing, turbulence and a rapid, uncontrolled descent point toward a weather-related structural or control failure — a line of inquiry the NTSB's "go-team" will test against flight-data and cockpit-recorder evidence in the coming weeks. A preliminary report is typically issued within 30 days, with a final determination taking a year or more.
