All nine people aboard a Learjet 60 died when the business jet crashed into a residential neighbourhood in Palm Beach County, Florida, on Sunday afternoon, US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has confirmed.
The aircraft came down at about 12:50 p.m. local time near Military Trail, between Cresthaven Boulevard and 10th Avenue North, in the Greenacres area. It had departed Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas earlier in the day and was bound for North Eleuthera Airport in the Bahamas, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
Video of the crash showed the jet diving steeply before erupting into a fireball close to a busy roadway, narrowly missing homes before striking near a mobile home community. The impact left a large debris field, fires and major destruction on the ground, local officials said.
As of late Sunday afternoon, officials had not confirmed any deaths or injuries among people on the ground, although a county commissioner said about 600 people were in need of shelter because of damage in the area. The identities of the nine people aboard had not been released.
Duffy described the crash as a “horrific tragedy” and said the FAA was sending a team to support the investigation. The National Transportation Safety Board will lead the inquiry and provide updates, the FAA said, with investigators expected to arrive at the site on Sunday and Monday.
No cause has been given. Preliminary flight-tracking data showed the jet descending about 27,000 feet in the space of a minute before tracking cut off, and reports citing air traffic control audio said the pilot had reported light, manageable icing and moderate turbulence. South Florida was under a flood watch with thunderstorms in the region, but officials have not said whether weather played any role, and that remains unverified.
The crash is the second deadliest in the United States this year, according to NTSB records, after a skydiving plane crash in Butler, Missouri, in June that killed 12 people.
The FAA said its information was preliminary and subject to change, and the investigation is expected to examine the wreckage, flight data, maintenance history, weather conditions and communications to establish what happened.
Sources: CNN; USA Today; Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board statements as reported by the Associated Press.
