Pilot Declares Mayday as Learjet Falls 27,000 Feet and Kills Nine in Florida

Nine people died when a private Learjet 60 crashed into a residential neighborhood in Palm Beach County, Florida, on Sunday, November 1, 2026. U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed the fatalities in a social media post, describing the event as a horrific tragedy. The Federal Aviation Administration stated that the aircraft struck the ground at approximately 12:50 p.m. Eastern time. The jet had departed Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas, with the Bahamas as its intended destination. The FAA listed nine individuals on board, noting that the figures remained preliminary at the time of the announcement.

The crash site is located near Military Trail, between Cresthaven Boulevard and 10th Avenue North in Greenacres. This area sits roughly four miles south of the West Palm Beach airport, which was renamed President Donald J. Trump International Airport earlier this year. Local residents reported hearing and feeling a boom. Thick black smoke rose from the impact zone, where flames flickered around chunks of pavement lining the crater. The debris field extended a significant distance from the point of impact, according to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who visited the scene. He said it looked like a missile going down and left a big crater on the side of the road. DeSantis said no ground casualties had been reported at the time of his press conference.

Air traffic control recordings and flight data indicate the aircraft was flying east at an altitude of 35,000 feet when the crew reported turbulence, icing, and precipitation. The pilot requested a climb of 2,000 feet. Minutes before the crash, the pilot reported light, clear ice that is manageable and moderate turbulence. The outside air temperature was recorded at minus 47 degrees Celsius. Shortly after this exchange, the descent rate increased sharply. The pilot declared a mayday, reporting a descent of 10,000 feet per minute, which quickly escalated to 20,000 feet per minute. The pilot stated the aircraft was in an overspeed condition and declared that it was going to crash into the ground. CBS News reported the pilot also stated the crew was out of time. The jet banked sharply to the right before impacting the ground at a steep angle. Flight tracking data from ADS-B Exchange showed the aircraft dropped 27,000 feet in approximately one minute before the signal was lost. The FAA confirmed the plane fell from 35,250 feet to 8,750 feet in that final minute.

Weather conditions in the area included scattered storms and a convective SIGMET warning for thunderstorms. The jet passed through a stronger storm cell shortly before the rapid descent. The National Weather Service had a flood watch in effect through Monday afternoon due to heavy rain. The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation and said Sunday it was launching a go-team, with investigators expected to arrive Sunday and Monday morning. A media briefing is scheduled for Monday in West Palm Beach. No cause for the crash has been determined yet. In January 2024 the NTSB issued a safety alert on in-flight icing, warning that ice can make managing the airplane's flightpath and airspeed more difficult and can prevent the airplane from maintaining level flight.

Local residents described the chaos in the immediate aftermath. Anthony Blackmon, who was about 500 feet from the crash, said debris hit his house and the road caught fire. Roger Forcelle reported that the aircraft passed directly over his home, shaking the structure. Andrew Mannino said the power went out immediately and was still out. One witness described the scene as looking like a meteor had hit the ground. The impact left the road buckled, according to video from WPBF. The crash is the deadliest ever involving a Learjet 60, according to data from the Flight Safety Foundation. It is the second deadliest aviation accident in the United States this year, following a skydiving plane crash in Butler, Missouri, that killed 12 people in June. The aircraft, registered as N722BD, is owned by LR60271 LLC of Wilmington, Delaware. The jet is listed online as available for charter, though officials have not confirmed who operated the Sunday flight.

Approximately 600 residents of a nearby mobile home community had to leave their homes Sunday night. The crash scene blocks the entrance to the park and is being treated as a crime scene for federal investigators. No official has alleged a crime took place. County Commissioner Joel Flores, who represents District 3 and was the first county official at the scene, said residents were being moved to two county shelters. The Red Cross was on standby, and Palm Tran buses were prepared to transport residents once law enforcement allowed the evacuation. Palm Beach County closed Military Trail between 10th Avenue North and Purdy Lane/Alameda Drive until further notice. The road remains open only to emergency vehicles. Drivers were directed to use 10th Avenue North and Purdy Lane/Alameda Drive for east-west travel and Haverhill Road and Kirk Road for north-south travel. A county commissioner warned that parts of the road could stay closed for an extended time because of the crater, and officials said the timeline also depends on the federal investigation.

Mary Schiavo, a CNN aviation analyst and former inspector general for the U.S. Transportation Department, said dashcam video will be important to investigators. She noted that the steep dive indicated the pilots had lost control of the plane. Schiavo added that the impact could have torn parts off the aircraft and that the flight recorder might have been destroyed in the explosion. It is unclear if the jet carried a cockpit voice recorder. FAA rules require multi-engine jets to carry one only when flown for hire. The Learjet brand, originally made famous by Bill Lear in the 1960s, was last built by Bombardier, which stopped production in 2021 but continues to support the aircraft in service. Jim Reynolds, a spokesperson for Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, confirmed the jet was a private aircraft and said the airport could not identify the individuals on the flight. He called the event a definite tragedy.

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