Nine Killed as Learjet Crashes Into Florida Neighbourhood

Nine people have been killed in the Florida Learjet crash, after a Bahamas-bound Learjet crashed into a residential neighbourhood in Palm Beach County, Florida, erupting in flames and scattering debris across a wide area, US officials have said. It is the second-deadliest aviation accident in the United States this year.

The Learjet 60 went down at about 12:50 p.m. local time on Sunday, 1 November, near Military Trail and 10th Avenue North, close to Greenacres, after departing Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas for North Eleuthera Airport in the Bahamas, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said. All nine people on board died, US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed, calling the crash a “horrific tragedy”.

FAKTA

• Aircraft: Learjet 60 business jet, flying from Austin, Texas, to North Eleuthera in the Bahamas
• Crash site: Near Military Trail and 10th Avenue North, Greenacres, Palm Beach County, Florida
• Time: About 12:50 p.m. local time on Sunday, 1 November
• Deaths: All nine people on board killed; no deaths reported on the ground
• On the ground: About 600 people in need of shelter after damage to the neighbourhood
• Investigation: Led by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), with the FAA

What happened

The jet crashed into a mobile home neighbourhood, sparking several fires and leaving what officials described as a significant debris field. Video from the scene showed a buckled road where the plane struck the ground, creating a crater, and thick black smoke rising over the area.

There are no reports of anyone on the ground being killed, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said, but the damage forced about 600 people from their homes. Palm Beach County Commissioner Joel Flores, the first county official at the scene, said residents were being sent to two shelters in the county while the site is investigated.

“I heard and felt the boom,” local resident Andrew Mannino told CNN. “The power immediately went out and is still out.” He said he smelled the smoke and saw a large black cloud in the air.

All lanes of Military Trail in the area of Cresthaven Boulevard and 10th Avenue North were closed until further notice, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office said, and motorists were advised to avoid the area.

Final moments of the flight

Minutes before the crash, the pilot reported ice accumulating on the aircraft, an outside air temperature of minus 47 degrees Celsius and moderate turbulence bouncing the plane by up to 700 feet, according to a recording of air traffic control radio calls captured by LiveATC.net.

“We have light, clear ice that is manageable and moderate turbulence,” the pilot radioed the Miami Air Route Traffic Control Center. Moments later, after reporting precipitation and requesting to climb, the pilot declared an emergency: “We’re descending 8,000 – mayday, mayday – we’re descending 10,000 feet per minute. We are in an overspeed condition descending 20,000 feet per minute … We’re going to crash into the ground.”

Flight-tracking data from ADS-B Exchange showed the jet descending 27,000 feet over the course of one minute just before tracking cut off. There were scattered storms in the area at the time, and the plane had passed through a stronger storm cell a few minutes before it began descending. It is unclear whether the weather contributed to the crash; the flight was in an area where the FAA had warned of thunderstorms.

(File photo: a Learjet 60, the same type of aircraft involved in the Florida crash.)

Florida Learjet crash investigation under way

The FAA and the NTSB are investigating, with the NTSB leading the inquiry and providing updates. NTSB investigators were due to arrive at the site on Sunday and Monday, and a news conference was planned for Monday.

Officials have not identified the nine people who were aboard the plane or said how many were passengers and how many were crew. The cause of the crash is not yet known, and it was not immediately known whether anyone on the ground was injured.

According to NTSB records cited by CNN, the crash is the second-deadliest in the United States this year, after a skydiving plane crash in Butler, Missouri, in June that killed 12 people. It is also the worst crash involving a Learjet 60, according to data from the Flight Safety Foundation; in 2008, four people were killed when a Learjet 60 bound for Los Angeles crashed on takeoff from Columbia, South Carolina.

For more coverage of the Americas, see Watan News’ Americas coverage.