Nine dead after Learjet crashes into Palm Beach County neighborhood

“We’re going to crash into the ground,” the Learjet crew told air traffic control shortly before the aircraft struck a Palm Beach County road and erupted in flames.

All nine people aboard the private Learjet 60 died in the crash at about 12:50 p.m. Sunday, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said. The plane had left Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas and was headed to North Eleuthera in the Bahamas when it went down near Military Trail in the Cresthaven and Greenacres area.

What happened: Video and images from the scene showed the jet descending steeply before impact, leaving a crater in the roadway, debris across the area and fires near homes and passing traffic. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis called it a “cataclysmic” crash and said the aircraft looked “like a missile coming down.”

There were no immediate reports of people on the ground being killed or injured. But the crash still displaced about 600 residents from a nearby mobile-home community because of damage and blocked access, and it damaged local infrastructure including water lines. Military Trail was closed in both directions around the crash site.

The final calls: Air traffic control recordings captured the pilot reporting light icing, precipitation and moderate turbulence before requesting to climb. Minutes later, the crew declared an emergency, reporting a descent of 10,000 feet per minute and then an overspeed condition while descending 20,000 feet per minute.

Those calls describe a flight in immediate trouble. They do not establish why it happened. Thunderstorms and heavy rain were reported in the area, but investigators have not said weather caused the crash.

What comes next: The National Transportation Safety Board and FAA are investigating, with NTSB investigators sent to the site. Authorities had not publicly identified the people aboard or determined a cause. An NTSB media briefing is scheduled for Monday in West Palm Beach.