Nine dead after business jet crashes in Florida neighborhood
A Florida neighborhood faced a deadly crash when a business jet went down near homes and a busy road, killing all nine people aboard. Authorities
A Florida neighborhood faced a deadly crash when a business jet went down near homes and a busy road, killing all nine people aboard. Authorities said the aircraft was a Learjet 60 traveling from Texas to the Bahamas.
The jet crashed in Palm Beach County on Sunday at about 12:50 p.m., Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said there were no immediate reports of deaths or injuries on the ground. Local officials said about 600 people were evacuated from the area near a mobile home park in Cresthaven.
Federal investigators are examining the crash
The Federal Aviation Administration said the aircraft had taken off from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport and was headed to the Bahamas. The agency is sending a team to assist the National Transportation Safety Board as it investigates what caused the crash.
Authorities had not announced a cause. Nor had they identified the people aboard the aircraft. Those details are likely to be central to the investigation as officials examine the crash site and the flight’s final moments.
The aircraft struck near a residential area and a heavily used roadway. Officials said the impact triggered a large fire, while DeSantis described a crater beside the road. The scene prompted evacuations, but the governor said there were no immediate reports of casualties among people on the ground.
The distinction matters to residents and anyone traveling through the area: the crash caused a major emergency response and cleared people from nearby homes, even as officials reported that the nine fatalities were all aboard the jet. The evacuation figure underscores the immediate disruption around the site.
Officials describe a violent impact
DeSantis spoke to reporters at the scene and compared the aircraft’s descent to a missile. He said the crash left a large crater along the roadside.
Duffy called the crash a “horrific tragedy” in a post on X and confirmed that all nine people aboard had died. He also asked people to keep the victims’ families and loved ones in their thoughts.
The FAA’s work with the NTSB will focus on determining why the Learjet went down. Officials have not publicly identified a cause, and the investigation remains underway. “It looked like a missile going down and left a big crater on the side of the road,” DeSantis said.
