CRESTHAVEN, Fla. — A private business jet en route from Texas to the Bahamas
plunged into a residential neighborhood in Palm Beach County on Sunday afternoon, exploding into flames and killing all nine people on board.
The aircraft, a Learjet 60 owned by a Delaware corporation, departed Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas and was bound for North Eleuthera Airport in the Bahamas when disaster struck around 12:50 p.m.
Air traffic control audio captured the pilot’s final moments as the plane went into a steep descent. According to recordings from LiveATC.net, the pilot declared an emergency, reporting that the jet was in an “overspeed condition” while plummeting at thousands of feet per minute, before delivering a final transmission: “We’re gonna crash… We’re out of time.”
Witnesses on the ground described a terrifying sequence of events. Several bystanders reported seeing the aircraft take a sudden right turn before nosediving into the ground near Cresthaven, leaving behind a massive explosion and sending debris across the area.
“It was a cataclysmic plane crash,” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis told reporters on Sunday evening. “It looked like a missile going down and left a big crater on the side of the road.”
Despite the intense crash and fireball, officials confirmed there were no reported casualties on the ground, though the impact knocked out power to surrounding homes and prompted local police to seal off key roadways along Military Trail. Local emergency crews quickly secured the perimeter as federal investigators headed to the scene.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy called the incident a “horrific tragedy” in a statement confirming that none of the nine occupants survived, offering prayers for the families of those lost.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) have launched a joint investigation into the cause of the disaster. Officials have not yet released the names of the passengers and flight crew pending notification of next of kin.