All nine people aboard a Learjet 60 business jet were killed on Sunday when the aircraft dived almost vertically onto a busy road in Palm Beach County, Florida, US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said.
The jet came down around 12:50 p.m. local time on Military Trail, a six-lane road near Cresthaven, about nine miles from President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort. The Federal Aviation Administration said the flight had departed Austin, Texas, and was bound for the Bahamas. Nobody on the ground was hurt.
Air traffic control audio, as reported by the BBC, captured a crew member reporting moderate turbulence, icing and precipitation and asking to climb, then declaring an emergency as the jet descended at 20,000 feet per minute. The final words from the cockpit were “we’re out of time.”
“It’s like a missile coming down, and a massive explosion, debris going everywhere,” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said of dashcam footage of the crash. Duffy called it a “horrific tragedy.”
Officials said about 600 residents of a nearby trailer park were evacuated, and damage to water lines and other infrastructure means the road will stay closed for at least 30 days. Thunderstorms had been reported in the area at the time.
The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation with FAA support. The identities of those aboard had not been released.
Sources: BBC News, DW, CBC News
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