Greenacres Neighbors Evacuated After Jet Crash Takes Nine Lives

A Learjet 60 business jet crashed into a residential area in Palm Beach County, Florida, on Sunday, November 1, killing all nine people on board. The aircraft was traveling from Austin, Texas, to North Eleuthera in the Bahamas when it went down near a busy roadway in Greenacres at approximately 12:50 p.m. Eastern time.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy described the incident as a horrific tragedy in a post on X. He stated that the Federal Aviation Administration was deploying a team to assist the National Transportation Safety Board, which is leading the investigation. The NTSB launched a go-team and scheduled a media briefing for Monday in West Palm Beach. No cause for the crash has been determined as of Sunday night.

The crash site is located near Military Trail, between Cresthaven Boulevard and 10th Avenue North. The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office confirmed the location in Greenacres, a city of roughly 45,000 residents situated seven miles southwest of West Palm Beach. The site lies four miles south of the local airport, which was renamed President Donald J. Trump International Airport earlier this year. CNN reported that President Trump was in West Palm Beach earlier in the day and left the airport on Air Force One a little more than an hour before the crash.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis visited the scene and told reporters the event was a cataclysmic plane crash. He compared the descent to a missile going down and noted that the impact left a large crater on the side of the road. DeSantis said there were no reports of fatalities or injuries on the ground at the time of his news conference. He praised local first responders for their quick response and noted that the debris field stretched over a long distance.

Air traffic control recordings and flight tracking data reveal the jet was flying east at approximately 35,000 feet when pilots reported turbulence, icing, and precipitation. The pilot requested a climb of 2,000 feet. Minutes before the crash, the pilot informed the Miami Air Route Traffic Control Center that the aircraft was experiencing light, clear ice and moderate turbulence. The pilot reported an outside air temperature of minus 47 degrees Celsius and vertical turbulence of up to 700 feet.

The situation deteriorated rapidly after the precipitation report. The pilot radioed, "We're descending 8,000, mayday, mayday." The descent rate increased to 10,000 feet per minute, then 20,000 feet per minute, putting the aircraft in an overspeed condition. The pilot stated the plane was going to crash into the ground, and CBS News reported the pilot also said they were out of time. The jet banked sharply to the right before impacting the ground at a steep angle.

The FAA stated the jet fell from 35,250 feet to 8,750 feet in one minute just before the crash. Flight tracking site ADS-B Exchange showed a drop of 27,000 feet in about a minute before data was lost. The descent rate peaked at 30,000 feet per minute, pushing the aircraft beyond its design limits. Scattered storms were present in the area, and the jet passed through a stronger storm cell minutes before the descent. The FAA had issued a convective SIGMET warning of thunderstorms in the region.

Witnesses captured video of the jet striking the road and exploding. Flames flickered around chunks of pavement lining the crater, which was located feet from homes and inches from passing vehicles. Thick black smoke covered the site, and video from WPBF showed the road buckled at the impact point. A woman working nearby said the electricity had been out for about two hours. Another witness described the scene as looking like a meteor had hit the ground.

Anthony Blackmon, a resident about 500 feet from the crash, said debris was everywhere and hit his house, and that everything was on fire, including the road. Roger Forcelle felt the aircraft pass over his home and said it shook the entire house. Andrew Mannino heard and felt the boom, experienced an immediate power outage, and smelled smoke while watching a large black cloud rise.

County officials said approximately 600 people in a nearby mobile home community had to leave their homes because the crash scene blocks the park entrance. The area is being treated as a crime scene while federal investigators work, although no official has alleged a crime took place. Palm Beach County Commissioner Joel Flores, who was the first county official at the scene, said residents were being sent to two county shelters. The Red Cross stood by, and Palm Tran buses were ready to transport residents once law enforcement approved the evacuation.

Palm Beach County closed Military Trail between 10th Avenue North and Purdy Lane/Alameda Drive until further notice. Only emergency vehicles were permitted on the route. 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 remain closed for an extended period due to the crater and the ongoing federal investigation.

The aircraft was identified by its registration, N722BD. FAA registry data lists the Learjet 60 as owned by LR60271 LLC of Wilmington, Delaware. The jet is listed online as available for charter flights, though officials have not yet stated who operated Sunday's flight. Jim Reynolds, a spokesperson for Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, confirmed the aircraft was private and could not identify the passengers or crew. He called the incident a definite tragedy.

Mary Schiavo, a CNN aviation analyst and former inspector general of the U.S. Transportation Department, noted that dashcam video would be important for investigators. She stated that the descent was not controlled and that the pilots had lost control of the plane. Schiavo suggested the steep dive could have torn parts off the aircraft and that a flight recorder might have been destroyed in the explosion. It is unknown whether the jet carried a cockpit voice recorder, as FAA rules require them only for multi-engine jets flown for hire.

This 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 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 people. The Learjet brand was most recently built by Canadian manufacturer Bombardier, which stopped producing new models in 2021 but continues to support the aircraft in service.