LEARJET CRASHES IN FLORIDA, KILLING ALL 9 PEOPLE ABOARD
Nine people were killed in a Florida Learjet crash on Sunday, November 1, 2026, when a Learjet 60 flying from Austin, Texas, to the Bahamas plunged into a mobile home community in Greenacres around 12:50 p.m. ET, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said. Air traffic control audio published by the New York Post captures the crew reporting turbulence and ice, then an overspeed condition and a rapid descent in the final moments.
The jet had been bound for North Eleuthera Airport after leaving Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, according to the FAA. Moments before the emergency, the pilot told Miami Air Route Traffic Control Center about moderate turbulence and “light, clear ice that is manageable.”
Then the call changed. The pilot radioed “mayday, mayday” and said the plane was in an overspeed condition, descending at 20,000 feet per minute, and later “we’re descending 10,000 feet per minute.” “We’re going to crash into the ground,” she said.
“November two bravo delta, I’m here with you, talk to me,” the controller answered. A crew member replied, “We are descending 22,000 feet, and we are banking, 60 degrees … we’re going outside.” The last words on the recording came from a female crew member: “Holy f–k we’re out of time.”
The FAA told ABC News the aircraft dropped from 35,250 feet to 8,750 feet in a little over a minute. ABC reported the twin-engine jet was 22 years old. The Post reported it was registered to LR60271 LLC, a private business in Wilmington, Delaware.
Videos showed the plane nose-diving into the ground and setting off a huge fireball. It clipped a tree and brought down power lines, and one witness said the crash was so loud “it sounded like a missile.” The impact left a large crater along Military Trail, officials said.
Gov. Ron DeSantis called the scene “cataclysmic” and described the jet’s descent as “like a missile going down,” WFLX reported. He praised Palm Beach County first responders for their fast response.
CNN reported no deaths on the ground at the time of its coverage. The site is roughly 9 miles from Mar-a-Lago and four miles south of the West Palm Beach airport, where President Trump had departed more than an hour before the crash, CNN said.
Military Trail was closed between Cresthaven Boulevard and 10th Avenue North, NBC6 reported. WFLX said about 600 residents of the nearby mobile home community were expected to be relocated while investigators treat the site as a crime scene, with two shelters on standby and Palm Tran ready to transport them.
The NTSB is leading the investigation, with support from the FAA.
