Nine people died after a Bahamas-bound Learjet crashed and then erupted in a fireball in Palm Beach County, Florida, on Sunday afternoon, officials said.
This accident is the second deadliest in the United States this year, according to NTSB records, after that of a skydiving plane that occurred in June in Butler, Missouri, which left 12 dead.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy called the accident a “horrible tragedy.”
The plane was a Learjet 60 flying to the Bahamas from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. It’s registered with an LLC in Delaware, according to FAA records, and is listed as available for rental online.
The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the accident, the FAA said.
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Black smoke fills the sky after a Learjet with 9 people on board crashed and caught fire Sunday in Palm Beach County, Florida.
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Black smoke fills the sky after a Learjet with 9 people on board crashed and caught fire Sunday in Palm Beach County, Florida.
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Smoke fills the sky after a Learjet with 9 people on board crashed and caught fire Sunday in Palm Beach County.
The crash happened near Military Trail, between Cresthaven Boulevard and 10th Avenue North, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
Minutes before the crash, the plane’s pilot reported ice buildup on the plane, an outside air temperature of -47 degrees Celsius and moderate turbulence, causing the plane to bounce up to 700 feet, according to a recording of air traffic control radio calls captured by LiveATC.net.
“We have light, clear, manageable ice and moderate turbulence,” the pilot said by radio to the Miami air traffic control center.
But moments later, after reporting that precipitation was beginning to fall and asking to climb, they declared a state of emergency.
“We’re going down at 8,000 feet per minute, mayday, mayday, we’re going down at 10,000 feet per minute,” the pilot said. “We’re in overspeed going down at 20,000 feet per minute…We’re going to crash into the ground.”
The plane descended 27,000 feet in one minute, just before flight tracking data was interrupted, according to the ADS-B Exchange website.
The road is distorted where the plane hit it, creating a crater, video from CNN affiliate WPBF showed.
The crash site is about four miles south of the West Palm Beach Airport, which was renamed in honor of President Donald Trump earlier this year. Trump was in West Palm Beach earlier in the day, but left the airport on Air Force One a little more than an hour before this crash.
There were scattered storms in the area at the time of the accident, and the plane passed through a stronger storm cell minutes before beginning its descent. It is unclear whether the storm contributed to the accident.
All northbound and southbound lanes of Military Trail are closed until further notice, officials said, and motorists are advised to avoid the area and seek alternate routes.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
