Nine killed as Learjet 60 crashes near Palm Beach, Florida

A private Learjet 60 en route from Austin, Texas, to the Bahamas crashed on Sunday afternoon in Palm Beach County, Florida, killing all nine people aboard, officials said.

The jet hit a busy roadway and instantly burst into flames, creating a deep crater at the impact site and scattering burning wreckage within a few metres of nearby houses and businesses. Video recorded from a passing vehicle shows the aircraft striking the road and the immediate fireball.

Air-traffic communications and flight-tracking records show the jet was flying east when pilots reported turbulence, icing and precipitation and requested an additional 2,000 feet of climb. Moments later the aircraft descended and accelerated beyond its design limits.

Distress calls captured

In the recording from the cockpit, the pilot is heard saying: "We're descending at 8,000 feet per minute. Mayday, mayday, we're descending at 10,000 feet per minute. We're going to hit the ground." About 35 seconds after the first distress call, the last words from the cockpit were: "We're running out of time."

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy described the crash as "a horrific tragedy." Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, speaking from the scene, called it a catastrophic aviation accident and said: "It looked like it was falling like a projectile, and there was a big crater next to the road." He added that parts of the aircraft were spread over a large area.

Investigators have not yet determined the cause of the accident and have not released the identities of the nine victims or clarified how many were passengers and how many were crew. Photographs from the scene show damage to the roadway and flames on the ground near the impact site.

Photo: press material from the event