Nine people have been killed after a Bahamas-bound Learjet 60 crashed into a residential neighbourhood in Palm Beach County, Florida, and erupted into a fireball. The deaths were confirmed by US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who described the crash as a “horrific tragedy” in a post on X and asked people to pray for the families and loved ones of those lost.
According to preliminary information from the Federal Aviation Administration, the private jet had departed from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas and was travelling to North Eleuthera Airport in the Bahamas when it went down at around 12:50 p.m. local time (1750 GMT) on Sunday, 1 November 2026. The FAA said the aircraft was carrying nine people.
The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement that the crash occurred near Military Trail, between Cresthaven Boulevard and 10th Avenue North, in the Greenacres area — a community of modular and mobile homes just outside West Palm Beach.
A plunge of 27,000 feet in one minute
Flight-tracking data points to a catastrophic descent in the jet’s final moments. CNN reported, citing the flight-tracking website ADS-B Exchange, that the Learjet descended roughly 27,000 feet over the course of one minute just before tracking data cut off. Aviation publication AvWeb reported that ADS-B data showed the jet had climbed to 41,000 feet after departing Austin before beginning a descent near Naples, Florida, to approximately 35,000 feet, with a maximum descent rate exceeding 32,000 feet per minute.
Air traffic control audio reviewed by CNN indicates the flight crew encountered difficult conditions before the plunge. The pilot told the Miami Air Route Traffic Control Center: “We have light, clear ice that is manageable and moderate turbulence.” The aircraft then fell from the sky and impacted the ground nose-first, leaving a large crater and sending thick black smoke over the surrounding area.
600 residents evacuated from mobile-home community
Local authorities sealed off the crash site as emergency operations continued. The sheriff’s office closed Military Trail in both directions and advised motorists to avoid the area. Local reporting put the evacuation figure at approximately 600 residents from a nearby mobile-home community while rescue teams worked at the scene.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis described the incident as a catastrophic aircraft crash, adding that there were no immediate reports of people on the ground being killed or injured. As of 2 November, the identities of the nine people killed aboard the aircraft had not been officially released, and authorities had not confirmed whether anyone on the ground was hurt.
Charter jet, close to Mar-a-Lago
FAA records showed the Learjet 60 was registered to a limited liability company in Delaware and was listed as available for charter online. The aircraft was privately operated and had reportedly visited Las Vegas, Cleveland, Little Rock and Washington in the days before departing Austin on Sunday morning.
The crash site sits in Palm Beach County, not far from President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate — reports variously estimated the distance at roughly six to nine miles, with Simple Flying putting it at approximately six miles and The Scope at approximately nine miles.
NTSB leads the investigation
The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation into the disaster, with the FAA assisting, and the FAA said it anticipated publishing a preliminary accident report. NTSB investigators were expected at the site on Sunday and Monday. Investigators will examine the wreckage, flight data and cockpit communications, the aircraft’s maintenance history and the weather conditions to reconstruct the jet’s final moments.
No official cause has been determined. South Florida was under a flood watch for heavy rain on Sunday, with thunderstorms across the region, according to the National Weather Service — though authorities have not confirmed whether weather played any role in the crash.
The crash is the second-deadliest aviation accident in the United States this year, according to NTSB records cited by CNN, behind a skydiving plane crash in Butler, Missouri, in June that killed 12 people. This is a developing story, and details are expected to change as investigators release their findings.
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