Learjet 60 bound for Bahamas crashes in Greenacres, killing all nine aboard

Nine people died on Sunday, November 1, 2026, when a Learjet 60 business jet crashed into a neighborhood in Palm Beach County, Florida, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said. The Federal Aviation Administration reported the impact occurred at approximately 12:50 p.m. Eastern time near a busy road in Greenacres. The aircraft had departed Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas and was heading to North Eleuthera Airport in the Bahamas when it descended rapidly and struck the ground.

Duffy described the incident as a "horrific tragedy" in a social media post. He stated that the FAA was dispatching a team to assist the National Transportation Safety Board, which is leading the investigation. The NTSB announced it was launching a go-team with investigators expected to arrive Sunday and Monday. A media briefing is scheduled for Monday in West Palm Beach. No cause for the crash has been determined yet.

Officials have not released the names of the nine individuals on board or specified the split between passengers and crew. Jim Reynolds, a spokesperson for Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, said the jet was a private aircraft and could not say who was on the flight. "This is definitely a tragedy," Reynolds said. The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office located the crash site near Military Trail between Cresthaven Boulevard and 10th Avenue North. The city of Greenacres has a population of roughly 45,000 and sits about seven miles southwest of West Palm Beach.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis visited the scene and told reporters the crash looked like a missile descending. "It left a big crater on the side of the road," DeSantis said. He noted that no one on the ground had been reported killed or injured at the time of his news conference. DeSantis praised local first responders for their speed and noted the debris field stretched a long distance. The site is located about four miles south of the airport in West Palm Beach, which was renamed President Donald J. Trump International Airport earlier this year.

Video captured by drivers in nearby vehicles showed the jet falling from the sky and exploding near the roadway. Flames surrounded chunks of pavement lining the crater, which was feet from homes and inches from passing vehicles. Thick black smoke covered the area, and video from WPBF showed the road surface buckled where the jet struck. The impact left a big crater on the side of the road.

Anthony Blackmon, a resident about 500 feet from the crash, described the chaos. "Debris was everywhere. Debris hit my house. Everything was on fire. The road was on fire," Blackmon said 6. Roger Forcelle said he felt the aircraft pass over his home. "It shook the whole house. It went right over us and crashed probably less than half a mile from where I live," Forcelle said. Andrew Mannino said that he heard and felt the boom and that power immediately went out. He smelled smoke and saw a large black cloud rise into the air.

About 600 people in a nearby mobile home community were forced to leave their homes Sunday night. County officials said the crash scene blocks the entrance to the park and is being treated as a crime scene while federal investigators work. No official has alleged that a crime took place. Palm Beach County Commissioner Joel Flores, who represents District 3 and was the first county official on site, said residents were being sent to two county shelters. "So we have about 600 people that we have to make sure that they have shelter tonight," Flores said. The Red Cross was on standby, and Palm Tran buses were ready to transport residents once law enforcement cleared the way.

Palm Beach County closed Military Trail between 10th Avenue North and Purdy Lane/Alameda Drive until further notice. The road remained open only to emergency vehicles. Officials directed drivers 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 commissioner warned that parts of the road could stay closed for an extended period due to the crater and the federal investigation.

Air traffic control recordings showed the jet flying east at about 35,000 feet before the pilots reported turbulence, icing, and precipitation. The pilot requested to climb 2,000 feet and told the Miami Air Route Traffic Control Center that the ice was light and manageable. The pilot reported an outside air temperature of minus 47 degrees Celsius and turbulence that bounced the jet by as much as 700 feet. The situation changed rapidly after the pilots reported precipitation.

The pilot radioed, "We're descending 8,000, mayday, mayday, we're descending 10,000 feet per minute." The pilot then reported an overspeed condition with a descent rate of 20,000 feet per minute. "We're going to crash into the ground," the pilot said. CBS News reported the pilot also said, "We're out of time." The descent rate increased to as high as 30,000 feet per minute, pushing the jet beyond its design limits. The plane banked sharply to the right before hitting the ground at a steep angle.

The FAA said the jet fell from 35,250 feet to 8,750 feet in one minute just before the crash. Flight tracking site ADS-B Exchange showed a drop of 27,000 feet in about a minute before the data cut off. Scattered storms were in the area, and the jet passed through a stronger storm cell a few minutes before the descent. The FAA had issued a convective SIGMET, a warning of thunderstorms that threaten aircraft. Whether the weather played a part has not been determined.

Mary Schiavo, a CNN aviation analyst, said dashcam video will be important to investigators. "That is not a controlled descent," Schiavo said. She noted that the steep dive could have torn parts off the plane and that a flight recorder could have been destroyed in the explosion. It is not known whether the jet carried a cockpit voice recorder. FAA rules require multi-engine jets to carry one only when they are flown for hire, and records show the jet was offered for charter flights.

Flight tracking and FAA registry data identify the jet by registration N722BD. The FAA registry lists it as a Learjet 60 owned by LR60271 LLC of Wilmington, Delaware. The jet is listed online as available for charter, and officials have not said who operated Sunday's flight. The crash is the deadliest ever involving a Learjet 60, according to Flight Safety Foundation data. 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.