Learjet Plunge: Nine Killed in Palm Beach County Crash

A private business jet nose-dived into a neighborhood in Greenacres, Florida, killing all nine people on board. The Learjet 60 hit the ground near Military Trail on Sunday, November 1, 2026, creating a crater only feet from homes. One resident said debris hit his house, and others said the power went out. The crash is the deadliest ever involving a Learjet 60, according to Flight Safety Foundation data cited by CNN.

The jet departed Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas, bound for North Eleuthera Airport in the Bahamas. Flight tracking site ADS-B Exchange showed a drop of 27,000 feet in about a minute before the data cut off, CNN reported. The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation and said Sunday it was launching a go-team. No cause for the crash has been determined.

Minutes before the crash, the pilot told the Miami Air Route Traffic Control Center: "We have light, clear ice that is manageable and moderate turbulence." They requested a 2,000-foot climb from air traffic control in Miami. The pilot reported an outside air temperature of minus 47 degrees Celsius. The jet then entered a steep dive, with the pilot broadcasting mayday calls as the descent rate accelerated from 10,000 feet per minute to 20,000 and eventually 30,000 feet per minute.

The pilot stated that the aircraft was in an overspeed condition and that they were going to crash into the ground. The AP reported the jet banked sharply to the right before hitting the ground. It struck the ground at a steep angle near Military Trail between Cresthaven Boulevard and 10th Avenue North. Video from WPBF showed the road buckled where the jet hit it, and thick black smoke covered the site.

Resident Anthony Blackmon, located about 500 feet from the crash site, said debris hit his house and the road was on fire. Roger Forcelle said he felt the aircraft pass over his home and that it crashed probably less than half a mile from where he lives. Andrew Mannino reported an immediate blackout of electricity and a large black cloud rising into the air. Another person who saw the aftermath said it "looked like a meteor hit the ground."

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis visited the crash site and described the event as a cataclysmic plane crash. He noted that the jet appeared to fall like a missile and left a large crater on the side of the road. DeSantis stated that there were no reports of people on the ground being killed or injured at the time of his news conference. He praised the quick response of Palm Beach County first responders.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy called the incident a horrific tragedy in a post on X. He announced that the FAA was sending a team to support the NTSB investigation. The FAA confirmed that nine people were on board the aircraft. Jim Reynolds, a spokesperson for Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, told the Associated Press the jet was a private aircraft and could not say who was on the flight. Officials have not released the names of the nine people killed.

About 600 residents in a nearby mobile home community were forced to leave their homes on Sunday night. The crash scene blocks the entrance to the park and is being treated as a crime scene while federal investigators work, county officials said. No official has alleged that a crime took place. Palm Beach County Commissioner Joel Flores, who was the first county official on site, said residents were being moved to two county shelters. The Red Cross is standing by to assist, and Palm Tran buses are ready to transport residents once law enforcement clears the way.

County officials closed Military Trail between 10th Avenue North and Purdy Lane/Alameda Drive until further notice. Only emergency vehicles were permitted access. Drivers were directed 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 stay closed for an extended time because of the crater, and officials said the timeline also depends on the federal investigation.

Scattered storms were in the area, and the jet passed through a stronger storm cell a few minutes before it began to descend, CNN reported. The FAA had issued a convective SIGMET for the area, warning of thunderstorms that could threaten aircraft. Heavy rain fell across the region on Sunday, and the National Weather Service had a flood watch in effect through Monday afternoon. Whether the weather contributed to the crash has not been determined.

Mary Schiavo, a CNN aviation analyst and former inspector general of the U.S. Transportation Department, said dashcam video will be important to investigators. She noted that the descent was not controlled, indicating a loss of plane control. She suggested the steep dive could have torn parts off the aircraft and that a flight recorder might have been destroyed. It is not known whether the jet carried a cockpit voice recorder. FAA rules require one for multi-engine jets only when they are flown for hire, and records show the jet was offered for charter flights.

The aircraft is registered as N722BD and is listed in the FAA registry as a Learjet 60 owned by LR60271 LLC of Wilmington, Delaware. The jet is listed online as available for charter. Officials have not identified the operator of the Sunday flight. The Learjet brand was made famous by Bill Lear in the 1960s and was last built by Bombardier, which stopped production in 2021 but continues to support in-service planes.

This crash is the second deadliest in the United States this year. It follows a skydiving plane crash in Butler, Missouri, in June that killed 12 people. In 2008, four people died when a Learjet 60 crashed on takeoff in Columbia, South Carolina. The NTSB plans to hold a media briefing in West Palm Beach on Monday. Investigators were expected to arrive on the scene on Sunday and Monday morning to begin their work.