Business Jet Plunges Into Florida Neighborhood, Killing All Nine Aboard

A private jet carrying nine people slammed into a residential neighborhood in Greenacres, Florida, on Sunday afternoon, killing everyone aboard after the aircraft reported in-flight icing, lost control at cruising altitude and plunged more than 26,000 feet in just over a minute, according to federal officials and air traffic control recordings reviewed by multiple news organizations.

The twin-engine Learjet 60, a 22-year-old private aircraft, had departed Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas and was bound for North Eleuthera Airport in the Bahamas when it went down around 12:50 p.m. near Military Trail, between Cresthaven Boulevard and 10th Avenue North, roughly seven miles southwest of West Palm Beach. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed in a statement reported by PBS NewsHour that all nine people aboard had died; officials did not release their names or ages.

• Nine people aboard; all nine killed, officials confirmed.
• The jet fell from about 35,250 feet to 8,750 feet in roughly one minute, descending at times at nearly 30,000 feet per minute.
• About 600 residents were evacuated from a nearby mobile home community.
• No injuries were reported among people on the ground.

Greenacres is a city of roughly 44,000 people in Palm Beach County, a mix of single-family subdivisions, a mobile home community and strip retail centers, several of which sit close to the crash site along Military Trail.

A Dive Beyond the Jet's Limits

According to flight-tracking data and air traffic control audio reported by CBS News Miami, the jet was cruising at roughly 35,000 feet when its pilots told controllers they were encountering icing, turbulence and precipitation and asked to climb about 2,000 feet. Instead of climbing, the aircraft entered a steep, accelerating dive. One pilot radioed that the plane was "in an overspeed condition descending 20,000 feet per minute," with the rate of descent climbing toward 30,000 feet per minute before the jet banked hard to the right. "We're gonna crash," a pilot said in a final transmission. "We're out of time." The aircraft fell from about 35,250 feet to 8,750 feet in a little over a minute, a rate that exceeded the Learjet 60's design limits, before it struck the ground nose-first and erupted into a fireball.

The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are jointly investigating the crash. The NTSB dispatched a "go-team" of investigators who began arriving at the scene Sunday evening and into Monday morning; the agency has not said how long the inquiry will take, though comparable general-aviation investigations typically yield a preliminary report within weeks and a final probable-cause finding after a year or more. Federal aircraft registry records show the jet was built not long before Learjet ended production of the 60 model in 2007 and had previously flown as a charter aircraft; its ownership and operator on the day of the crash were not immediately confirmed by authorities. Learjet built 318 of the base-model 60 before shifting to the upgraded 60XR, and the entire Learjet line was discontinued in 2022 when Bombardier ended the program.

No One Hurt on the Ground, Hundreds Displaced

Despite coming down near homes, a mobile home community and a shopping plaza, the crash caused no deaths or injuries on the ground, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said at a briefing near the site.

"It looked like a missile going down. It left a big crater on the side of the road." — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis

"Obviously, this was a cataclysmic plane crash," DeSantis said, adding, "I think people will recognize this as a major tragedy." Palm Beach County officials said roughly 600 residents of the nearby Cresthaven mobile home community were evacuated as crews secured the scene, and the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office closed Military Trail in both directions. "So we have about 600 people that we have to make sure that they have shelter tonight," County Commissioner Joel Flores said Sunday evening, adding that the American Red Cross was standing by to assist displaced residents. Neighbors described wreckage and fire reaching close to homes; one resident roughly 500 feet from the impact site said debris was scattered everywhere, while another said the jet passed low overhead moments before a plume of black smoke rose over the neighborhood.

Weather and a Troubled Aircraft Type

The crash came amid unsettled weather across South Florida; the National Weather Service's Miami forecast office had a flood watch in effect for the region that day. Investigators have not said whether icing alone caused the loss of control or whether a mechanical or structural failure also contributed; one early report, citing unnamed sources, suggested parts of the jet may have separated before impact, but that detail has not been confirmed by the NTSB.

The crash adds to a string of fatal U.S. business-jet accidents over the past two years, including a Learjet crash in Philadelphia in early 2025 that killed people both aboard and on the ground, and a Learjet crash in Scottsdale, Arizona, in October 2025 that prompted the NTSB to recommend the FAA require inspections of landing-gear attachments across the Learjet fleet. Those recommendations addressed a different failure mode, and investigators have given no indication so far that the Scottsdale findings are connected to Sunday's crash.

What Happens Next

A spokesman for Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, Jim Reynolds, said the airport had no immediate details on who was aboard the flight. "This is definitely a tragedy," he told the Associated Press. Duffy, in his own statement, asked the public to keep the victims' families in their thoughts. Investigators plan to recover the wreckage along with any salvageable flight-data or cockpit-voice recorders, interview air traffic controllers and witnesses, and review the aircraft's maintenance history before issuing a preliminary report. A final determination of probable cause typically takes considerably longer. Palm Beach County officials said the closed section of Military Trail would remain shut while investigators worked the scene, and displaced residents were being housed in short-term shelter arrangements Sunday night.